Daddy's Characters
by Shaddic
Summary: Mike and Zoey couldn't be happier in their simple lives with their little girl, but when disaster strikes and everything is lost, can hope rise from the ashes?
1. Chapter 1

"Daddy, save me! The dragon's gonna get me!"

"The winter princess is in danger! Get back, foul beast!"

Noel climbed the tall willow tree in the backyard. "The dragon got me! He's gonna cook me with his fire breath and eat me!"

Mike swung his wooden sword at the tree. "Unhand my daughter, you overgrown lizard!"

Noel jumped into her father's outstretched arms. She turned back to the tree and yelled, "No monster is a match for my dad!"

Mike slayed the "beast," and then Noel took his sword as he knelt on one knee.

"I dub thee Sir Mike, royal knight to the Winter Princess."

"It is an honor to serve you, my princess."

Zoey called from inside the house, "Okay Winter Princess, that's enough dungeons and dragons for one night, you have a busy day tomorrow."

"But Mom, we're having fun! I'm turning seven in just two weeks and the sun only set five minutes ago, can't I stay up longer?"

But Svetlana appeared and said, "She is right! You are having ze dance recital tomorrow! Hurry, get in bed so you can beat ze other little girls and show off everything Svetlana has taught you!"

"Only if I get a story first!"

Svetlana rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, now get in bed! Your body must be in tip top shape!"

Noel obeyed and ran to her room. She quickly dressed in her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and hopped in bed just in time for Svetlana to walk in.

"Okay, Svetlana will get Mike and-"

"I want Chester to tell me a story tonight."

"But zat is Mike's job."

It was always weird when her dad would refer to himself in third person, as though he was a whole other person, but Noel didn't dwell on it much. "Just for tonight, I want it to be Chester."

"Aye, aye, aye, you are ze only person in ze vorld zat likes hearing him talk. It is very concerning." Svetlana vanished and Chester took her place.

"All right missy, ya only get one story and that's it, we'll be having none of this, 'just one more' business."

Noel nodded in agreement, and Chester launched into a tale of the old days. Zoey had warned her that Chester liked to exaggerate and to take everything he said with a grain of salt, but she was always enamored by his stories and didn't care if they were true or not.

After he finished his story, he said, "And by the way, no more climbing up those dang trees. You're gonna fall and poke your eye out!"

"But Manitoba says I should look for the tallest trees I can find and climb to the very top to see the view."

"Manitoba don't know nothin' about nothin'! Same goes for the rest, dang punks. Now go to sleep, Nova. I've learned ya enough for tonight."

"It's Noel."

"That's what I said, turn your ears on, ya whippersnapper."

He was about to leave the room when she said, "Wait! Aren't you going to give me a kiss goodnight, Daddy?"

The sound of his name brought Mike back. "Oh, how could I forget!"

He ran back over to the bed and tickled her feet, causing her to erupt in a fit of giggles, and he laughed with her. He knew he wasn't supposed to tickle her before bed because it riled her up, but he couldn't resist. He loved the sound of her laughter.

Mike let up the tickle assault and kissed her forehead. He brushed back her red curls away from her eyes and noticed her doll on the floor, the one she and Zoey had made together when she was four. It was old and ragged, but it was her favorite and she couldn't sleep without it.

"And we can't forget Marcy!" he said as he tucked the doll under the covers with her. She had named the doll after Marceline in _Adventure Time_, her favorite character.

"Daddy, can I always live here with you and Mama?" she asked with a yawn.

"Well of course you can, but why would you want to? There's a whole world out there to see, and all kinds of things to do. Besides, you'd just get sick of us."

"No I wouldn't! I want to be with you forever."

"Whatever you do, you'll always be my winter princess. Goodnight, Noel."

"Goodnight, Daddy."

Mike turned out the light and closed the door. Putting Noel to bed was much easier now than it had been when she was a baby, because he could always count on one of his personalities to make a loud racket and wake her up again. A minute later Zoey came in and hugged and kissed her goodnight, as well.

Noel thought about Chester's story, and about how Svetlana had taught her gymnastics, dancing, and figure skating. It was weird how her father so often pretended to be different people and insisted on being called different names, and how he would say one thing as one character but do the complete opposite as another. Sometimes she wondered why this was. It was all she had ever known so it seemed normal enough to her, but she still had questions. She didn't want him to stop, no, she loved his characters. They were funny, and they each taught her things. It was just her dad's way of being silly and making her laugh. It was just a game they played, her favorite game.

After Noel was put to bed, Zoey and Mike went to shower together. The hot water and the closeness helped Mike relax and sleep better throughout the night. They held each other close as steam fogged up the mirror. Zoey ran her fingers through his hair as Mike kissed her lips, down to her neck and collarbone, down to her arms. They felt all their cares melt away, at least for the moment.

After the hot water ran out, they reluctantly got out and went to bed. Zoey put on her pajamas and Mike put on his pajama pants, but not the shirt. He didn't have to put his shirt back on because Vito showed no signs of appearing. Removing his shirt still triggered him, but he didn't come out in the bedroom anymore, which was a blessing. Zoey didn't mind sleeping with Mike with his shirt on, but being able to admire his abs without it getting in the way was much better.

Once under the covers, Zoey laid on Mike's chest and rubbed circles over his heart. He put his arms around her and played with her hair and rubbed her back. It was in these moments when Mike felt truly relaxed. He should have been able to forget all his worries and think only of Zoey, but he had a lot on his mind tonight.

Zoey asked, "Why have the other personalities been coming out so much lately? They're supposed to have one Saturday a month, but they're stealing time with Noel away from you. I know they still like to come out randomly, but it's been happening a lot more lately than usual."

"You know how they get this time of year, they're excited about Christmas and Noel's birthday. I've actually been letting them out more recently so they can get it out of their system, so I can have her birthday and Christmas to myself."

"Mostly to yourself. They'll want to give her their presents themselves, no way are they letting you do it."

"They should go back to the normal schedule after the holidays are over."

He paused, then asked, "Do you think Noel likes them more than me?"

"Why would you think that?"

"She asked Chester to tell her a story tonight, instead of me."

"You have to remember that she thinks you're just acting, she didn't know she was denying you your time."

"The others are really cool, cooler than me. More fun, too. They've taught her all kinds of great stuff, and what have I done?"

"Well, let's see," said Zoey. "You taught her to swim, right?"

"But Vito taught her to surf."

"You taught her to fish."

"Manitoba broke a wild stallion and taught her to ride it."

"You tell her stories."

"So does Chester, just like tonight. And Svetlana is training her to be an Olympic champion and a dancing prodigy. I feel useless."

"It's not a contest."

"It is to them. And what good am I as a father if my daughter likes my alternate personalities more than me?"

"But there are things you can do that the others can't. You're the best dancer of the bunch, as much as Vito tries to deny it. And you're the best singer. I don't know why the others can't sing as well, you share the same set of vocal chords. Svetlana's opera is okay, Vito's beatboxing is all right I guess, Manitoba's folk songs on the guitar are nice, and then there's whatever Chester does, but you've got the best voice, without a doubt."

"But-"

"I'm not done. You also draw beautifully. None of the others are interested in drawing, except Manitoba, but he only draws maps. Noel learned how to draw and paint from you.

"You're the real artist, especially when it comes to making and designing clothes."

"That's not the point. Remember, not a contest. And you're musical, too. You taught Noel a little on the piano."

"I can barely play."

"You know enough to learn to play her favorite songs, and that means a lot to her. You write songs for me, and though they may not be on Mozart's level, they still mean the world to me. And your stories are her favorites, even the ones she's heard a million times. You have a way of telling stories that makes them feel magical. You have the biggest, brightest imagination, none of the others have that.

"And you might not have noticed this, but Noel confides in you more than the others. She doesn't know the others are alternate personalities and not you, but she's most comfortable talking to you about her problems and other things anyway. She trusts you the most, even more than me, and that speaks volumes. But most importantly, you're her daddy, and she's a daddy's girl through and through. The others are not her daddy. If anything, they're her wacky uncles and aunt. Daddy comes first, so don't you go selling yourself short, mister. You're not Superman, but she loves you more than you realize."

"I wonder what it's like, growing up with a dad like me."

"I'll tell you what it's not: boring."

"She said she wants to stay with us forever, if only that wish could come true."

"I know what you mean. But Mike, when are you going to tell her the truth about your personalities?"

Mike sighed and held her tighter. "What if it scares her? It scares almost everyone else."

"It's never scared her before, why should it now?"

"She thinks it's all an act, once she knows it's because I have a mental disorder, she won't ever look at me the same way again. I'm used to being rejected, it doesn't bother me so much anymore. But if my own daughter were to reject me… I don't know what I would do. I couldn't bear it."

"Give her a chance to prove herself. Noel is sweet and kind, and tough as nails, too. She can handle this."

"I wish we lived in a perfect world where I wouldn't ever have to tell her."

"But we don't, so you'll have to tell her, and the sooner the better. One reason is that you and your personalities set down different rules, and so her moral code is a bit skewed. You'll tell her she can't stay up late on a school night, but then Manitoba will come in hours later and wake her up to go nighttime exploring. The lack of consistency in what's allowed has got to be very confusing for her.

"But more importantly, she needs to know because she's getting old enough to ask the tough questions. I can already tell she's starting to get suspicious that something is up. We have a very weird family, Mike, it's not normal in any way, and she needs to understand why. Pretty soon she'll start to realize that our way of life isn't typical and she'll wonder why, and she might go looking for answers in the wrong places. The last thing we need is for her to find out about MPD from someone who has no idea what they're talking about."

"But she's so young, can't we give her a few more years of blissful ignorance?"

"She's smart, and kids can handle more than most adults give them credit for. If you want, I can tell her."

"No, no it needs to be me. I'm just dreading it because I won't ever be the same to her. She'll finally realize that daddy isn't the knight in shining armor she believed him to be."

"The mark of a great hero is his flaw. You'll still be the same as you were before, she'll just understand better why you are the way you are. You'll still be her knight in shining armor, but with a chink in your armor."

"I'll tell her soon, I promise. Just give me a few days to prepare. I don't want to screw this up and say the wrong thing and freak her out."

"Everything will be fine, don't worry about it."

"You always say that."

"I've been right so far, haven't I?"

Mike kissed her, and she kissed him back. They turned off the lights and went to sleep.

* * *

"Svetlana is so excited! My little ballerina, on ze stage!"

"Svetlana, let Mike have a turn so he can watch Noel perform."

"No way, hose."

"It's José," she muttered, but accepted defeat. There was no way Svetlana was going to give up the reins during a dance recital.

Noel and the other girls her age came out in their white tutus. Noel had been cast as the lead in the dance, and so she was doing more moves than the other girls. But Zoey had watched her practice her routine several times, and she was doing more complex moves that weren't in the program.

"Svetlana," Zoey whispered. "Did you tell Noel to do all those extra dance moves?"

"Of course, she must stand out like star. Ze dance was too amateurish for her, zis is more befitting her skill."

"She was already in the lead, she didn't need extra moves. This could throw off the entire show and mess everyone up. And it'll just make the other girls feel bad."

"Not everyone can be ze champion."

"And you're just giving her a big head."

Svetlana turned to look at Zoey in confusion. "How could Svetlana be enlarging her skull?"

"Forget it."

They watched the rest of the dance and joined in the standing ovation. Zoey had to admit that Svetlana was a great teacher, even if she was potentially making her daughter into a showoff. It was bad enough that Mike spoiled her (but if she was being honest, she did too). Noel performed dances with ease that tripped up older girls. She was always very impressed with her skill, and maybe just the teensiest bit jealous, too.

After the recital ended, Zoey and Svetlana had to search through the crowd for Noel. Noel spotted them first and ran over to them.

"Mom! Did you see me, did you see what I did? Was I amazing?"

"You were spectacular, sweetheart! You stole the whole show, but next time, talk to your instructor before adding moves to the dance, okay?"

"Okay Mom."

Noel giggled as Svetlana mimicked Zoey behind her back. Zoey caught on fast and turned on Svetlana, but she assumed an innocent expression before she could be caught.

"All right, you've had your fun. Mike, return to planet earth, please."

Mike took back control and Zoey said, "Noel did so well in her performance, didn't she Mike?"

He was disoriented for just a second, but then he picked her up and tossed her up into the air. Zoey had innumerable pictures of Noel in midair. She let out a squeal of laughter as he caught her.

"You were awesome!" Mike agreed.

Suddenly, Noel's dance instructor came out of nowhere. Zoey assumed she was here to berate Noel for going freestyle.

"Hello Ms. Carter. About Noel's dance, you won't have to worry-"

Ms. Carter interrupted her and said, "Congratulations!"

"I- pardon?"

"Noel told me the good news! You're having another baby."

Mike and Zoey both just stared at the woman for a while, then at each other, then back at her until the situation became awkward.

"Um, we're not expecting," said Zoey.

"You're not? But Noel said-"

"Noel, have you been spreading rumors about us having a baby?" asked Mike.

"It's not a rumor, it's true," said Noel, as if this settled everything.

"What makes you think so?" asked Zoey.

Noel just shrugged.

"Um, I think we'll be going home now," said Zoey.

"Yeah um, it was nice seeing you Ms. Carter," said Mike.

Mike carried Noel out of the school with Zoey by his side.

Once they were in the car, Zoey began to scold Noel. "Sweetheart, you can't go making up stories and spreading them around. Now everyone is going to think I'm pregnant when I'm not."

"I didn't make it up, I just know."

Neither parent knew what to say to that. To avoid an awkward silence, Zoey turned up the radio and put it on the Christmas station, and they sang along to the carols. Mike normally didn't sing along to the radio, but he loved singing Christmas songs.

They had just got through singing _Grandma Got Run-over by a Reindeer_ when Mike said, "There are a lot of weird Christmas songs out there."

"I know," said Zoey. "Even weirder that we sing along to all of them."

"I didn't really have Christmas as a kid, not until Jack and Holly took me in. I love to sing along to the radio during Christmas to make up for lost time, even when they're playing the strangest of songs. Is it weird that I like Christmas so much?"

Zoey thought of the Christmas lights he put on the house the week after Halloween. It was hard to say who was more excited for Christmas, him or Noel. "Whoever said you have to stop getting excited at Christmas when you grow up was a grumpy old curmudgeon and a moron. Besides, I won't be married to a Scrooge. You don't want a Grinch for a daddy, do you Noel?"

"Don't be a Grinch, Daddy."

"Okay, you talked me out of it."

Just then, another song came on the radio:

"_I want a hippopotamus for Christmas,_

_Only a hippopotamus will do._

_Don't want a doll, no dinky Tinker Toy,_

_I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy."_

Zoey and Mike burst into laughter and sang along, and Noel tried to keep up.

That night, after he had put Noel to bed, Zoey was brushing her hair while Mike took his anxiety and depression medication.

Zoey told him, "I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for the day after tomorrow, I could have him check, just in case."

"But you've been on birth control, there's no way you could be pregnant."

"Birth control isn't a hundred percent effective. Accidents happen."

"Noel probably made up the story to try to tell us she wants a little brother or sister," said Mike. "If she's right, you definitely need to break out the tarot cards. But do you want another baby?"

"Actually, I was going to broach the topic sooner or later. I was an only child growing up and I was really lonely, and I don't want her to go through the same thing. I know we decided to wait a while before having another baby to make sure we could make it work with your alters, but I think we've waited long enough. Do you want another baby?"

"I've been thinking about it a lot lately and… yeah, I really do," said Mike as he came to sit by her on the bed. "We've got that empty room full of junk, we could clean it out and turn it into a nursery." Mike started getting more and more animated the more he thought about it. "We still have Noel's old baby toys in the attic, and her old baby clothes, too, right?"

"Mike, I don't think you let me throw out anything of hers," Zoey laughed. "Half the attic is filled with her baby stuff. We probably won't even have to shop for anything new."

"Noel would be such a great big sister, and I'd get to be a daddy again. Zoey, let's go look through the attic, see what we've got!"

"Mike, we don't even know if I'm pregnant yet," she said with a smile. His enthusiasm was always contagious. "If I'm not pregnant, we'll start trying again. Who knows, maybe we'll get a little Mike junior this time."

"I would love another baby girl, but I hope it's a boy. Either way though, as long as it's healthy, I'll be happy. But what if it is a boy? That would be awesome."

Zoey held his hands and said, "You're so cute when you're excited."

Her lips felt like rose petals as she kissed him, soft and delicate. He kissed her back and smiled.

"What did I ever do to deserve you, Zoey?" he asked.

"You didn't do anything to deserve my heart, I gave it to you because I love you, and I will never love anyone else the way I love you. Nothing will ever change that."


	2. Chapter 2

Zoey was sitting at the kitchen table, typing away at her laptop. Normally, she would be at school teaching, but it was an optional teacher work day, so she had the day off. She was typing an e-mail to the principle about a boy in her class that had told her his family didn't have heating in their home, and she needed to do something about it.

Vito and Noel came in from outside, both covered in grease. Zoey did a double take when she saw them.

"Um, I thought you two were going surfing. Was there an oil spill?"

"Nah, the car broke down on the way back so I showed the brat here how to fix an engine."

"I think I just made it worse, but I'll do better next time!" said Noel.

"Okay, well, I'm going to a doctor's appointment and I'll bring home dinner, so you guys wash up. Vito, don't forget the rules, and don't get into any trouble. You hear me?"

"We'll see, toots."

While all of Mike's personalities had no qualms about bending the rules to suit them, Vito took it upon himself to go out of his way to break every single one. His rule breaking and trouble making had cost him many Saturdays in the past to come out and do whatever he wanted, and were given to the others so they would get two weeks in a row.

But Zoey couldn't deny that he had greatly improved over the years, which was the only reason he was now allowed to be around Noel without her being there. He had stopped drinking entirely a few years after Noel's birth. He didn't want Zoey knowing this for some reason, but she knew because Mike no longer had to deal with hangovers after regaining control, and he didn't come home smelling like booze anymore. She didn't know why he gave it up, and he would never tell her, anyway. Zoey still had to keep an eye on him, but she could trust him more now than she ever could before.

"Love you Noel, see you Vito."

Zoey took the keys and drove off. Noel and Vito both washed their hands, but they didn't wash anything else.

"Since I helped you with the car, you have to play dolls with me."

"That's not how it works, brat."

"You said if I let you show me how to fix the car, you would do whatever I wanted, and this is what I want."

"How about we do something that's not lame, like riding a motorcycle, or poker. Whatcha got to bet with?"

"I'm not supposed to play poker, and neither are you. Remember how you gambled away Mom's wedding ring to that scary guy with the shark tattoo on his face?"

"I got it back eventually, that's what matters."

"And you bet me in a game once, too."

"That was a joke, everyone's too sensitive around here, and I knew I was gonna win anyway. And besides, I paid dearly for that with makeup and nail polish, remember? I have never been brought lower. I'll never get rid of the mental scars."

After the game had ended, Noel had been very upset that Vito would use her as a gambling chip. She was going to tell Zoey, and he realized that if she found out he would never hear the end of it, and it would cost him a lot of Saturdays. And there was always the possibility Zoey might go commando on him. It had been a long time since he'd done anything to incur her wrath like that, but this would definitely qualify.

He had begged Noel not to tell, and asked what he could do to get her to keep quiet. She at first refused, but he wouldn't let it drop until they came to some kind of agreement. She finally agreed not to tell, but he had to let her give him a makeover. He had almost refused, but having no other options, he was forced to give in.

She put makeup on him, painted his nails and toenails pink, and braided his hair. Even Mike had turned her down when she had asked him to let her give him a makeover, so for Vito, this was excruciating torture. When Zoey came in, she couldn't stop laughing and took several pictures before Vito could stop her.

When they were alone again, Noel admitted that she actually hadn't been very upset, and she wasn't going to tell Zoey. He had given her a lot of leverage over him, and she played it up to see how much she could get out of it, since he did deserve it after what he did. She had always wanted to give him a makeover, and she saw an opportunity and went for it.

Vito was enraged, and he yelled at her, even though now they were technically even. He washed off the makeup and took the bows out of his hair, but the nail polish wouldn't come off no matter how hard he scrubbed. Noel also used this to her advantage, and told him she would only tell him how to take it off if he did one more thing for her. Vito knew a guy with a motorcycle, and she wanted him to take her riding on it. This was something Vito had been wanting to do anyway, so he eagerly agreed, and she gave him the nail polish remover. Unfortunately, the others saw the pictures before he could destroy them, and they wouldn't let him live it down.

"That was fun, and you know it."

"Fun? Fun for you, maybe. You've got everyone fooled thinkin' you're some kind of angel, but I know the truth. You made me suffer indignity upon indignities, you devious little brat."

"I'm a devious brat for giving you a makeover and making you take me on a motorcycle?"

"Yes."

"Whatever, Vito. Are you going to play with me or not?"

"No way, sis."

Noel glared at Vito, and he glared right back. The battle of wills went on until Vito let out a defeated sigh and said, "Fine! Let's get this over with so I can throw up!"

"Yay! Come on, I'll be Rebecca and you can be Ashley."

The matter being settled, Noel took Vito by the hand and led him to her room while he swore under his breath.

Noel went to her toybox and pulled out two Barbie dolls and some props. She handed Vito the one with blonde hair while she kept the brunette. She set up a table with a miniature tea kettle and tea cups and set up mini chairs. She ran to get Marcy while Vito stared at his doll in disgust.

"Hello Ashley, how was your day today?" asked Noel through Rebecca.

In a very high-pitched girly voice, Vito replied, "Terrible. My sexy boyfriend left me because I'm not tan enough. Now who will dance with me at the club? I'm whiter than a snowflake and I blind everyone with my skin, my life stinks."

"That's terrible, Ashley. Here, have some tea," she said as she pretended to pour him a cup.

"It's a shame too, because he's tall, dark and handsome, and doesn't share a body with five other losers. What's a girl to do?"

"Maybe someday you'll find someone who doesn't mind if you're tanned or not," said Noel encouragingly.

Vito thought it over for a moment, then, still in that high-pitched voice, said, "Nah, I'm breakin' out the big guns. Where's the orange paint?"

Noel helped Vito find the paint and they proceeded to paint tans on all her dolls, except Marcy. Once they were finished, Noel threw paint at Vito's face. He looked surprised at first, but then a mischievous grin cross his face and he grabbed the paint.

"Oh, it is on, sister!"

He chased her through the house with the paint, and she got some to defend herself with. Noel screamed and laughed when he hit her with a big glob of paint. They kept splattering each other with paint until Zoey came home. Vito immediately replaced his smile with a disinterested frown. He could never let Zoey think he actually enjoyed playing with Noel.

"I'm home!" Zoey announced, and when she caught sight of the two of them covered in paint and grease, she gasped. "Vito! You promised you'd never put self-tanner on her again!"

"I did no such thing! This is orange paint, thank you very much. Her dolls were in serious need of a makeover."

"It's true Mom."

"And was the house in need of a makeover too?" she asked, gesturing to the orange paint splatters on the walls.

"Maybe not in that color, but you really should do something about the paintjob," said Vito.

"Don't worry Mom, the paint will come off. I'll clean everything and I won't ever do it again."

Noel looked up at her mother with puppy-dog eyes while Vito scowled at her, daring her to challenge him. In the end, she decided it wasn't that big a deal. When it came to Mike's other personalities, you were always fighting a great war, and she had to choose her battles carefully. There were some you fought to the death; others you surrendered without a fight, and this was one of the latter. After all, the house wasn't nearly as messy as it had been at other times in the past.

"I guess your dolls were a little on the pasty side. Now go take a bath, I need to talk to your father in private for a minute, and then it's his turn. And then we're cleaning this house."

Noel ran off and Zoey made Vito put his shirt back on. Mike appeared and barely had time to take a breath before she started talking.

"I went to the doctor Mike, and you'll never believe this. I am pregnant!"

"Yes!" he cried as he put his hands in the air. "I don't know how it happened, or how Noel guessed it, but yes! I'm going to be a dad again!"

"But there's more, you're going to want to sit down for this."

Mike and Zoey sat on the couch, and she took his hands and squeezed them. Mike wondered in anticipation and excitement for what she had to say next.

"The doctor did an ultrasound for the baby's heartbeat and… there were two."

Mike started to worry. "Two heartbeats? Meaning two hearts? Isn't that an alien thing? Is that bad for the baby, can they fix it? Will it be okay?"

Zoey laughed and Mike couldn't understand why. "Mike, it's not one baby with two hearts, it's two babies, identical twins."

It took Mike a minute to process this, but once he had recovered, he picked Zoey up and swung her around in circles, the both of them laughing like lunatics.

"Noel's birthday, Christmas, and twins! Can it get any better than this? Wait till we tell Noel, she'll be so excited! I gotta call Cam, let him know the good news!" said Mike as he ran into the other room.

"Take a shower first, you're indecent!" she yelled after him.

"Never!" he yelled back.

After Noel and Mike had both scrubbed themselves and the house until it shined, they told Noel the good news over dinner.

"Noel, your father and I have something to tell you. Guess what it is."

"You're finally letting me get a dog?"

"No, but you're not too far off. You're going to be a big sister!" said Mike.

Noel smirked. "I told you! When is the baby coming? Is it a girl?"

"Not just one, two! But it's too soon yet to know if they're boys or girls."

"I hope they're girls, I really want sisters. This is so great! But wait, will I have to share a room?"

"No, the twins will have their own room. But you will have to share your things with them, that's the price of being an older sibling."

"I can live with that. And just think, I can teach them all the stuff you taught me, Daddy, like gymnastics and making snares. And Mom, we can sew them blankets and make them teddy bears!"

The conversation revolved around the new babies until it was Noel's bed time. As Mike put her to bed, Zoey watched from afar. She didn't mention it to Mike, but she was so relieved and thankful that this time around he was able to relax and just be happy about the new babies, not apprehensive and worried like last time. This pregnancy was going to go much better than her last, she was sure of it.

* * *

Manitoba passed Noel a backpack and said, "Fill this up with everything you need to survive in the wild, Joey. Then come show me and I'll tell you how you did."

Noel rushed off to fill her backpack, and while she did Zoey confronted him.

"If you come across any wild animals, don't make Noel pet them or anything. And don't wrestle them yourself either, I don't want her to get scared."

"That ankle-biter watches scary movies, but she can't handle a wild beast?"

Zoey and Mike tried to regulate what Noel saw on TV, but the others, excluding Svetlana, didn't really care what she watched so they never made her turn the TV off when a horror movie came on.

"There's a difference between seeing things on TV and seeing them in real life. She likes animals well enough, but if she gets freaked out, don't force her to go near them."

"I won't force her. As long as she can track, survive in the woods, wrangle a bear, and fire a gun if she needs to, I'm satisfied."

"Good. Wait, no bears."

"We'll see. When are you gonna let me take her on a real safari? I'm running out of patience."

"When she's eighteen, Manitoba. You know that, it's one of the terms of our truce."

"Can't blame a bloke for trying."

"You keep her safe out there, okay?"

"You're one to talk about safety, Mrs. Skydiving While Pregnant."

"You made me go skydiving with you! And I didn't know I was pregnant at the time, I just found out a few days ago."

"Excuses, excuses."

"Seriously, don't let her get hurt. Her birthday is in just two days and I don't want her turning seven without all her limbs."

"Aye, Sheila. I can't believe she's turning seven already, it was just yesterday she was just a baby and I had her on my back swinging through the trees and looking for treasure in old abandoned mines. You never have to worry about the little joey when she's with me, I'd wrestle a crocodile for her any day."

"I know you would."

Noel ran back with her backpack now full of supplies. She handed it to Manitoba and he inspected it thoroughly.

"Looks like you got everything, except… the compass."

"I looked for it everywhere but I couldn't find it."

"That's because I have it right here," he said with a wink as he flourished the compass. He picked up his own backpack and said, "All right, adventurer sidekick, let's go! Today, we're tracking the elusive jaguar."

"There aren't any jaguars around here," said Noel.

"I'm Manitoba Smith, Joey! When I go lookin' for somethin', I always find it, no matter where I am geographically. Now, quick quiz, what do you do to keep warm on a freezing night in the woods?"

"Build a fire!"

"And how do you build a fire without a lighter or matches? And what other things do you do to keep from freezin' your rear end off?"

Manitoba continued to quiz her as they left the house and made for the mountains. They were hiking the trail that he had discovered when Mike was younger than she was, and this was her first time going.

Manitoba didn't like going on adventures alone. He would if he had to, but he didn't enjoy it nearly as much if he didn't have a companion. If there was someone around, he would drag them along, even if it was a total stranger. If Noel couldn't go with him, he'd talk Zoey into accompanying him. Noel was the perfect sidekick; she loved exploring and going on adventures almost as much as he did, and she looked up to him and fed into his massive ego. He didn't even care that she was a girl, he couldn't ask for a better sidekick.

It was Saturday; they would be returning Sunday in time for her birthday on Monday. She alternated between walking and riding on Manitoba's back. Noel didn't mind the quizzing, because she knew it would make her into a great adventurer like her father. Once he had finished quizzing her, they started practicing their bird calls.

"If we do find a jaguar, will you show me how to wrestle it?" she asked as they were a good ways up the mountain.

"This is why I like you, kid."

Suddenly, a large rock slid down the mountainside.

"Joey!" cried Manitoba as he shoved her out of the way. He didn't have time to save himself, and the rock hit him in the head and then kept tumbling down the mountain. He collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

"Daddy! I mean, Manitoba! Manitoba, are you okay?"

Manitoba didn't respond for several minutes. He didn't allow cellphones or technology of any kind on expeditions, and so Noel had no way of calling for help. But finally, to her immense relief, he opened his eyes.

"Manitoba, are you all right?"

He groaned and rubbed his head. "I'm all right, Joey. That rock tried to do me in, but nothin' can stop the great Manitoba Smith."

Noel helped him back on his feet. He started off again as if nothing had happened, and even started whistling a tune.

"What's that song you're whistling?"

Manitoba stopped and shook his head. "Was I whistlin'? That's odd. Oh well, come along, Joey."

They climbed the rest of the way and made it to the top. They set up Noel's tent and made a campfire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows with. After they had eaten their fill, they laid down on the dirt and looked up at the night sky.

"That one there is Orion, the hunter," said Manitoba as he pointed out the constellation to her.

"Isn't that one the lion?" she said as she pointed up at another set of stars.

"That's right, Joey. You really know your stars. And that one, that bright one there, that's the North star. You'll never be lost as long as you have the stars to guide you. Better than any map."

"How do you know so much about all this stuff? You get lost in the mall sometimes, but out here someone could drop you blindfolded out of a helicopter in the middle of nowhere and you'd have no trouble getting home."

Manitoba grinned. "It's my passion, I make it my job to know everything I might need out here in the wild. I've never gotten lost, not once in my life, and do you know why?"

"Because you're the great Manitoba Smith!"

"Exactly! And I'll teach you to be as good as I am. Well, maybe not as good, I'm a tough act to follow, but I think you've got what it takes."

They talked about the constellations until Noel fell asleep. Manitoba gently lifted her up and transferred her off the ground into her tent, and then laid back down on the ground and slept under the stars.

The next day, they went in search of jaguars. Though they found none, they did see some moose in the distance, and that satisfied them. While exploring, Noel found a gold coin in the dirt, and Manitoba inspected it.

"Yup, no doubt about it. There's treasure up here somewhere on this mountain. This proves it."

"We make a great team, don't we Manitoba?"

"Nope."

"No? Aren't I a good sidekick?" her face fell. Treasure hunting and exploring was very important to her.

"We're not a great team, we're the best treasure hunting duo there ever was!" he said as he mussed her hair and she giggled.

They returned home in the afternoon and Noel and Zoey spent the rest of the day preparing for her birthday party the next day. Zoey and Mike wanted to make sure that Noel's birthday wasn't overlooked just because it was right next to the biggest holiday of the year, so they always made a big deal out of it. Manitoba spent the rest of his free time making arrows and shooting them at the eyeballs of people on billboards for target practice.

That night, it was Noel's turn to pick the movie they watched. She chose _Lion King_, one of her favorites.

"Isn't this movie basically the cartoon version of Hamlet?" asked Zoey. "Every time I watch it it reminds me of your performance as Hamlet, Mike. You were amazing."

"I was pretty good, wasn't I? My understudy only had to fill in for me once, I got to do every other show. It was my greatest performance, I think."

"No doubt about that."

After the movie ended, Mike went to tuck her in. When Zoey came to wish Noel goodnight, she accidentally walked in on them dancing together. Noel was tiny and her head barely hit his waist, but they made it work. It must have been very difficult for Svetlana to not make a guest appearance, but she was managing to contain herself.

Noel took after her mother in that she was a big music lover. She could get lost in nearly any genre, particularly classical and jazz. They often joked her about how grown-up her taste in music was. Mike, on the other hand, didn't care as much as they did about music, but he was a great dancer. He liked listening to the radio, but he didn't get hooked on certain bands and he didn't learn the lyrics to the songs, except for a select few.

The song playing on Noel's old radio was _Unforgettable_. Mike didn't sing or dance often, but he could never turn Noel down when she asked. Mike was singing Nat King Cole's part, and Noel was singing his daughter's part. They didn't notice that Zoey was watching.

"Unforgettable, that's what you are," sang Mike as he held her close.

"Unforgettable, though near or far," Noel sang back.

"Like a song of love that clings to me."

"How the thought of you does things to me."

"Never before has someone been more,"

"Unforgettable, in every way."

"And forever more, that's how you'll stay."

"That's why, darling, it's incredible,"

"That someone so unforgettable,"

"Thinks that I am, unforgettable too." The last line they sang together. They broke apart and dramatically bowed to each other.

The song ended, and they looked up to see Zoey.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You weren't interrupting," said Mike as he scooped Noel up in his arms.

"Mind if I join in on story time tonight?" Story time was Mike's sacred right in this house, since he had to share his time with his other personalities. Zoey usually didn't intrude, but since this was the eve of Noel's birthday, she made an exception.

"Sure Mom!" said Noel.

Mike was eager to have her join them for story time. "I was going to do Jack and the Beanstalk, but we can do Little Red Riding Hood instead. You can be Little Red. Noel is usually Little Red, do you mind giving your role to Mom tonight?"

"Just this once," said Noel with a broad grin.

"Are you typecasting me?"

"Well, you could be the grandma, but she doesn't have any lines."

"I'm just teasing, I'd be honored to be Little Red."

Noel listened reverently as her parents played the parts in the story. Zoey spoke in a high-pitched little girl voice as Little Red while Mike spoke in a deep, gravelly voice as the big bad wolf.

"Grandma, what big ears you have!" exclaimed Zoey.

"All the better to hear you with, my dear," said Mike in a voice that was higher, but still gravelly.

"And what big eyes you have!"

"All the better to see you with, my dear."

"And Grandma, what big teeth you have!"

"I'll the better to eat you with!" Mike roared and grabbed Zoey and she screamed in mock terror. He then said, in a voice that was even deeper and more gravelly than before. "And then the huntsman came to rescue them, but alas, he was no match for the big bad wolf. The wolf gobbled up the grandma, the huntsman, and Little Red in one bite, and then he ran off in search of more suckers to eat."

Zoey stared at him and Noel said, "Daddy! That's not how the story goes. You're so weird."

Mike shook his head and said in his normal voice, "No, you're weird," he booped her nose. "I was just testing you. The wolf chased Little Red through the whole house, until the huntsman came to save them. He chased back the wolf with his axe and made the wolf leave for good. Little Red found her grandma locked in the closet, safe and unharmed, and they lived happily ever after."

"Tell another story!" Noel demanded. "Just one more, please!"

"Sorry kiddo, but you're going to need your sleep for the party tomorrow," said Mike. "I'm sure you didn't get much sleep on that hike, so you need to make it up now. You don't want to be a zombie on your special day."

"I can't believe you're almost seven," said Zoey. "This is your last night of being six, make sure you savor it."

"Do you think people are really going to come to my party?"

"Of course, you're the coolest kid in school! They'd be crazy not to," said Mike.

"And if this really is my last night of being six, I think I should get extra time to savor it, so I'm not too traumatized tomorrow when I'm suddenly seven. How about a late-night movie marathon? With ice cream and popcorn?"

Mike looked to Zoey pleadingly. He was caving, he was going to give in. When she was younger, he had completely lacked the ability to tell her no. He had improved since then, but it was still nearly impossible for him to say no, especially so close to her birthday. Noel had him wrapped around her finger.

"Nice try," said Zoey. She hated to be the bad guy here, but if she didn't Mike would let her stay up all night. "Besides, school will be ending in a few days for winter break and then you can stay up every night. You just have to last a few more days."

"All right," she said in defeat.

They both kissed her forehead.

"Love you," said Zoey. "Happy birthday early."

"Love you, Winter Princess," said Mike.

"Love you too," yawned Noel just before they closed the door.

"You feeling okay, Mike?" asked Zoey once they were away from Noel's room.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Manitoba took a hit to the head yesterday, but other than a little headache, I'm fine."

"Let me know if it gets worse, okay?"

"I will." Then, to change the subject, "After tomorrow, I won't have a six year old anymore. How is she growing up so fast? I always thought parents exaggerated that, but it's true! Soon she'll be sixteen and dating a guy with piercings and a Mohawk. I'll never be ready for that."

"How about we don't even think about the teen years yet. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"You think I could scare any potential boyfriends away? Only if I needed too, of course."

"You're too big of a sweetheart to be intimidating. I think Vito or Manitoba could get the job done, though."

"Thanks for the confidence, honey."

Zoey stuck her tongue out at him in response.

Mike and Zoey went to sleep that night peacefully and without a care in the world, their little family as happy as it could be. Little did they know that everything was about to change. Life would never be the same for them after the light bulb burned out, and their peaceful life would end.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Mike had to leave for work early and so he wasn't able to wish Noel a happy birthday.

"Happy birthday!" said Zoey as Noel rushed into the kitchen, still in her pajamas. "How does it feel to be seven?"

"The same as being six."

"You'll feel seven right when you're about to turn eight. Ready for breakfast? Better eat fast so you don't miss the bus."

Zoey could have driven her to school, but Noel liked having the extra time to talk to her friends on the bus. She would be leaving herself soon to go to teach her kindergarteners.

Breakfast was cinnamon rolls, Noel's favorite. She wolfed one down, but as she was digging into her second, she asked, "Where's Daddy?"

"He was called into work early, but don't worry, he'll be back in time for your party after school."

"Mom, do you ever think it's weird that Daddy likes to pretend to be other people?"

Zoey dropped the plate she had been holding. It was plastic, so it didn't break. "What do you mean, sweetie?" She knew this was coming, but she was unprepared to handle it. All the conversations she'd practiced in her head vanished and she wasn't sure what she should say.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I like his characters, but it's weird how I can't even call him daddy when he's playing them, he makes me call him by those other names. My friends say their parents don't play as different characters, and some of the kids at school talk about him, they say he's strange. One boy even called him a freak, but I put a squirrel in his backpack to teach him a lesson. I know he's an actor, but he gets so deep into character sometimes it's like he forgets he's my dad."

"Well, he does act for a living, but the characters he plays at home are… different. Tell you what, your father will explain it to you tonight, after the party, okay? For now, you just focus on being the birthday girl and decide what you want to wish for."

Noel finished her second cinnamon roll and then ran back to her room to brush her teeth and get dressed for school. She put on the dress she and Zoey had made just for the occasion and put her hair up in pigtails. The dress was bright red and went down to her knees. The phone rang while she was busy; it was one of the neighbors complaining about a dog digging holes in her yard, even though Mike and Zoey didn't have a dog.

Noel ran to the door when the bus pulled up and she yelled, "Bye Mama, see you later!"

Zoey was too busy listening to the neighbor rant and didn't hear Noel leaving.

* * *

Mike was on his lunch break, about to eat a cheese sandwich Zoey had packed him. He was very grateful for this role at the TV studio. Currently, he was just doing voice work for commercials, but his boss had told him she planned to have him do some live-action work soon. He was very excited about it, but really, he would have been happy just to sweep the floors. Not many people would hire someone with a "quirk" like his. But so far there had been no serious incidents caused by the others, and so he was doing well. After all, he had started just sweeping the floors, but now he was an actor in a real studio, just like he'd always wanted to be.

In his head, he was going over the date he had planned for Zoey for the following night. They'd hire one of the neighbor girls to come babysit Noel, and then they would go see the newest action flick. After that, he would take her to one of the fancy restaurants in town. They would do a bit of dancing while they were there, Zoey always loved it when he took her dancing. Then they would walk all through town to admire the Christmas lights. There would be no flower stands open in wintertime, unfortunately, but he had made her a dozen roses out of red paper. Zoey said she preferred those anyway; they were less expensive and lasted much longer. The news forecast was calling for snow, which would mean they would have to dress warmly and huddle together to keep warm. He had it on good authority from Svetlana that his plan was "very romantical." He couldn't wait for tomorrow night; unlike so many of his other dates with Zoey, which had gone badly, this one would be absolutely perfect.

The light bulb above his chair suddenly went out, and that was the last thing Mike remembered. Inside Mike's head, the chains that had kept Mal imprisoned for so long shattered into pieces, and he was free to move again. He left the tower that had been his prison and took control of the mind, and made sure none of the others inside knew that he had escaped, or what was going to happen.

"Stupid light," said one of the other actors as he opened his bag of takeout at the table. His name was Elliot. The light flickered back on randomly. "Either stay on or off, make up your mind."

Mal stretched his legs and arms after being trapped inside Mike's head for so long. He didn't have much time, Mike would take back control soon and so he had to act fast. He dropped the sandwich on the floor and stepped on it, and then walked out.

"Hey Mike, where are you going? I thought we were having lunch." Elliot was new to the studio, and Mike was trying to make him feel welcome by having lunch with him.

"Change of plans," said Mal, not even attempting to disguise his voice. Elliot watched him go, bewildered.

Outside, Mal felt Mike's cellphone buzz in his pocket. He took it out and saw on the caller ID that it was Cameron. He tossed the cellphone into the bushes and got in Mike's car.

Mal drove to the school, but on the way there, he stopped by a hardware store to buy a shovel, rope, and a knife.

Being back in charge of the meat suit after so long felt surreal. Mike had become very adept at keeping him locked up, but that head injury had hit him in just the right way to give him back the edge. It was totally unexpected, it had happened by pure chance, but Mal was never one to let opportunity pass him by. Even though his time at the wheel was very limited, he knew exactly what he was going to do with it, and just thinking about it brought a smile to his lips. He was positively giddy, this was the best idea he'd ever had.

He spent a minute in the car fixing his hair and practicing his Mike voice just to make sure he wasn't too rusty. Satisfied, he walked into the school and went to the principal's office.

"Hi," he said cheerfully to the secretary. "I'm Mike Skinner, Noel's dad. I need to sign out my daughter early today. It's her birthday, and I have a special surprise for her."

The elderly secretary smiled as she typed away at her computer. "What's the surprise?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore," he said with a wink.

The secretary giggled and said, "She'll be so surprised. Just sign this form and she's all yours."

Mal signed Mike's name with a flourish.

"Don't you normally write with your left hand?" asked the secretary.

Mal noticed his mistake, but brushed it off. He handed the form back and said, "I'm ambidextrous, comes in handy sometimes. Well, I'm off to get the birthday girl, I hope you have wonderful day."

The secretary giggled again and said, "You too. Do you know which room she's in?"

"Oh yeah, I got it. Thank you very much."

Mal left the office and made his way to Noel's classroom. On his way there, he had to pass by Zoey's classroom. He could hear them singing _My Favorite Things_ through the door. If Zoey came out, or if someone just happened to peek out the door and she caught sight of him, everything would be ruined. He quietly snuck past her door, and no one came out and saw him.

The door to Noel's classroom had children's artwork hanging all over it, and the bright colors and happy faces made him want to gag, but he went ahead and knocked.

Noel's teacher, Mrs. Siedentopf, answered the door. "Oh hello! Children, we have a visitor. Say hi to Noel's dad."

"Hey Daddy!" said Noel from her desk.

"Hey honey. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Oh no, you're not interrupting. We were just about to read _Peter Rabbit_. Would you like to come in and read with us?" asked Mrs. Siedentopf.

"That sounds delightful, but I'm going to have to take a rain check. Mind if I steal Noel for the day? I have a big birthday surprise waiting for her."

"Certainly! Noel, we'll see you tomorrow, and I hope you have a very happy birthday."

"Bye everyone!" said Noel as she hopped up from her desk. With one hand she held onto her doll Marcy, and with the other she held Mal's hand. "See you later at the party!"

As Mal closed the door, Noel asked, "Can we say hi to Mom before we go?"

"We don't want to interrupt her class, that would be rude. We'll meet her later at the party, okay?"

"Okay. But Daddy, I thought you had to work today."

"Nothing comes between me and my little angel, especially on her birthday."

Mal led Noel out of the school by the hand. She skipped at his side and told him all about her day at school, and how they had been allowed extra time at recess since it was her birthday. He put on a show of enthusiasm, all the while imagining the most creative ways of shutting her up permanently.

He took her to the car, but before she got in, she twirled in her dress and asked, "Do you like my dress, Daddy?"

Whenever Zoey and Noel made a dress for a special occasion, Mike wasn't allowed to see it until the day of so it would be more special.

"You look beautiful, absolutely stunning," he said with a smile. Noel returned his smile and got in the car, and he buckled her in.

"What's the surprise?"

"I'm sworn to secrecy. No spoilers, my dear."

"Will I like the surprise?"

"Birthday surprises are the best kind of surprises. This is one you definitely will not forget."

He drove through town to the edge of the forest. The forest stretched out over several acres; every now and again someone would go camping and get lost in there, though most of them were found and rescued safely.

"What are we doing here, Daddy?" asked Noel as she jumped out of the car.

"This is where your surprise is, honey. But before I give it to you, how about you go pick some of those pinecones over there by that pine tree? You can use them to make ornaments for the Christmas tree. We're picking it out tomorrow, remember?"

"Okay!" said Noel happily as she started gathering pinecones.

Snowflakes began cascading down from the sky, it was the first snow all winter. It would make for the perfect backdrop for what he was about to do.

Mal went back to the car and took out the knife. He hid it behind his back as he walked back and stood behind Noel.

"You love your daddy, right?" he asked with Mike's voice.

"Of course I do."

"How much?"

"I don't know, a bunch."

"From the bottom of your heart?"

"Yes, always."

"Will you love him forever and ever, until the day you die?"

"Of course I will. Why are you asking these questions?"

Noel turned around to look at him, and he raised the knife high over his head. Noel dropped the pinecones she had collected and screamed as he brought the knife down at her chest.

* * *

"Mrs. Noel's mom, where's Noel?" asked a little boy from her class.

"I don't know, her father should have her back any minute now." Zoey tried for the umpteenth time to reach Mike on his cell while over a dozen children went wild around her. The party was supposed to have started two hours ago, and everyone who had been invited was there, everyone except the birthday girl herself. The kids had already pinned the tail on the donkey and broken open the piñata, it was all Zoey could do to keep their fingers out of the birthday cake and presents.

Mike's answering machine picked up once again, and Zoey left another message. "Mike, it's Zoey. Is it you? Where are you? If this is Chester, let Mike back out so he can answer the phone. If it's any of the rest of you, I know you know how to work a cellphone so please pick up. Whoever this is, you need to bring Noel back home now, she's missing her own party."

Earlier, when Noel didn't come home on the bus, Zoey called the school to see if she had been kept after class again. She got into trouble occasionally, never anything major, so this wasn't unusual. Mrs. Siedentopf told her that Mike had already picked her up early. She was surprised that Zoey didn't know about it, but didn't seem concerned about it.

Another hour passed. Zoey let the kids dig into the cake, and then it was time for them to go home. Their gifts lay on the table unopened in bright, shiny Christmas wrapping paper. And still no sign of Mike or Noel.

She began calling the neighbors after the sun went down. Even though she was growing more and more concerned with each passing minute, she assured each one that there was probably nothing to worry about and Mike must have just lost track of the time. She also called the TV studio, but they told her they didn't know where he was. He had left before he had done the voiceover for one of his scheduled commercials, but they weren't concerned, either. They were miffed that he would leave without telling them and then not come back, but they were used to him having to leave occasionally in order to settle things with his personalities.

One of his personalities must have taken over, because Mike would never have missed the party. Whichever one it was would bring her back sooner or later. They might be reckless and bend the rules, but they all loved Noel and would never let anything bad happen to her. She didn't go to bed when she began to feel sleepy, but instead sat on the couch curled up in her pajamas, waiting for them to come home. She put on the news but she didn't pay it any attention.

Finally, at around four in the morning, the phone rang. Zoey sprung off the couch and made a mad dash for it.

"Mike?" she said hopefully.

"Mrs. Skinner?" asked an unfamiliar voice on the other end.

"Y-yes. May I ask who's calling?"

"Captain Fitzgerald with the police."

"Oh God, what's happened?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"We're going to need you to come down to the station."

* * *

Mike was walking down the middle of the road, though it took a while for him to realize he was doing it.

He felt like he was in a fog, like the gray area between sleeping and waking where you are only half aware of everything around you. He barely registered that it was snowing or that he was shaking from the cold, or that a freezing wind was blowing his hair back. He didn't notice that it was pitch black out and the rest of the world was asleep. It didn't occur to him that something wasn't right until the car almost hit him.

It was a cop car, and it had to swerve to miss him since he didn't even attempt to get out of the way. The car stopped and two cops came out. Both were in their mid to late forties, but one had a moustache and beard while the other did not.

The one with the moustache said, "What do you think you're doing walking down the middle of the road in the middle of the night, pal? Trying to get yourself killed?"

Mike finally noticed the cop, but he was still in a daze. "Oh sorry, I didn't realize. I'm not really sure where I am."

"What's your name?" said the one without a moustache.

"Mike Skinner."

"Mind telling us what you're doing out here wandering down the road in this weather?"

"I'm not sure. The last thing I remember, I was at the TV studio I work at. I was taking my lunch break and the light bulb went out and then, nothing." He gasped in realization and said, "What time is it? Did I miss Noel's party? Oh, she'll be so upset."

The two cops looked at each other, exchanging concerned glances. Moustache said, "Who's Noel?"

"My daughter. It's her birthday today."

"Is that her doll you're holding?"

"What are you talking about?" Mike looked down and saw that he was holding her doll, Marcy. Not only that, but the doll and his hands were covered in dried blood. He let out a choked scream at the sight.

"How can this be? What happened?" But even as he said it, he knew what had happened. He just couldn't believe it.

"Where is my wife? Where is my daughter? Did I do something to them? Oh God, did I hurt them? Did I… Did I…?"

"We're going to have to take you in for questioning."

"No!" he said, distraught. "Please, I have to make sure they're okay first! I'll never forgive myself if I did something, I have to see if they're all right. If they're not all right, if they've been hurt… I have to do something!"

"We'll call it in and make sure they're okay, but for now you need to come with us."

Moustache put him in handcuffs that really weren't necessary, because Mike had no intention of resisting them or trying to get away. No Moustache slipped on plastic gloves and took the doll and put it in an evidence bag.

One of them put him in the squad car while the other radioed it in. As he was going in, he caught sight of his reflection in the window and gasped. It wasn't just his hands and the doll that were bloody, his shirt was streaked with blood, and on his cheek was a bloody handprint, too small to be his own.

He remembered the last time he had been found wandering down a road, lost and confused. The last time had led to his salvation and his new life with Jack and Holly. This time led to his destruction.

All the way to the police station, Mike wouldn't let himself think about what must have happened, as though not thinking about it would make all of this disappear. But at the same time, he kept whispering over and over, "This can't be happening. It can't be, this can't be happening."

Inside the station, they took Mike's fingerprints and mug shots, and made him remove his shirt so they could test the blood to see who it belonged to. This inevitably triggered Vito, which was the last thing he needed at the moment.

"Hey, you gotta let me outta here so I can go find Noel! The Malevolent One hid her away somewhere and I gotta find her! Let me go, she needs me! Noel!"

It took two cops to restrain Vito. A third was tasked with putting another shirt on him, not because they knew it would bring Mike back, but because they weren't going to leave a prisoner shirtless. If Mike had been aware, he would have noticed that that was the first time Vito had ever called Noel by her name, instead of brat.

Mike was allowed to wash the blood off his hands and face, but not before several pictures were taken of the blood patterns. He was then brought into an interrogation room. When a detective came in, though he was no longer disoriented, the shock had not yet worn off and so he was still having trouble processing everything that was happening.

The detective was a woman, and she introduced herself as Carmen Winston.

"Have you found Zoey or Noel? Are they okay? Please tell me they're okay."

"We've contacted your wife, and she's fine, but we don't know where Noel is. Do you know where your daughter is?"

Mike was momentarily relieved that Zoey was okay, but that was quickly overshadowed by Noel's disappearance.

"I don't know, the last thing I remember was being at the studio."

"I understand you have Dissociative Identity Disorder. Was one of your other personalities in control when you signed her out of class?"

"One of them must have been."

"Do you have any way of accessing the memories of your other personalities so we can find her?"

"It doesn't work that way. They would have to share the memories with me of their own free will, I can't see them unless they do."

"We found your car parked at the edge of the woods, two miles from where you were found. We also found a dirty shovel and a bloody knife, but we couldn't find any freshly dug dirt around the scene, so we still have no idea where she might be buried."

"So you're not even going to assume that she might still be alive. You're looking for a dead girl, not a live one." It wasn't a question.

"All the evidence points to her being dead. We won't know for sure until we've found a body, but for now, there is nothing to suggest that she is still alive. We have nearly the entire department out searching for her, they may find something."

Mike put his head in his hands. Carmen asked a few more questions, but he couldn't hear her. The weight of what he had done was finally sinking in, and his world was falling apart. He could barely breathe, he felt like he was dying.

Carmen knew she wasn't getting any more information out of him while he was in this state, so she left him alone. She had trained herself to be hardened and objective so that cases like this couldn't touch her, but she couldn't deny the twist of pity in her chest when she heard Mike's broken sobs coming through the door. Noel wasn't the only victim in this case.

* * *

Zoey took only enough time to change out of her pajamas, she didn't waste any time on hair or makeup. She took her car and sped down to the station, her hands shaking on the wheel.

She burst through the doors and demanded to see the captain. He had refused to tell her over the phone what had happened, saying that it needed to be said in person. Captain Fitzgerald didn't keep her waiting; he greeted her with a somber expression and had her come into his office. She felt the pit in her stomach grow deeper with every step; she doubted he brought many civilians into his office unless he had bad news.

He had her sit down, and he did, as well. "I've never seen a case like this, not in my whole career. I don't know how to say this."

"Just say it and get it over with." She couldn't take this anymore, she needed to know or she would explode.

He took a deep breath and said, "We believe that your husband murdered your daughter."

It felt like she had been pierced with an icy dagger. Her whole body went cold, colder than the snow falling outside. She had expected bad news, but nothing as terrible as this. She couldn't breathe, time seemed to stop. One word flashed in her mind, and it made her see red.

_Mal._

Every word she spoke after that seemed to require great effort.

"No," she said, and she could feel tears pricking in her eyes. "No, no, not my baby."

"I'm very sorry."

"What happened?"

The captain told her that Mike had signed Noel out of school early, which she already knew. No one else saw either of them after that, until Mike was found wandering down the road at three in the morning, disoriented and covered in blood. They hadn't been able to find Noel, but they were still searching.

"We've tested the blood, and it is Noel's. It seems Mike was not in control at the time of the incident, and he has no memory of the last several hours. I've never seen anything like this," he repeated.

Zoey couldn't stop the tears from flowing. In less than twenty-four hours, her life had been destroyed. Her whole body was racked with uncontrollable sobbing, she hadn't ever cried this much in her life.

"I'm so sorry," she said through hiccupping sobs. "I don't usually break down like this. It takes a lot to get to me, and here I am crying my eyes out in front of a total stranger. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Losing a child is the worst pain a parent can go through."

It took Zoey several minutes to regain her composure enough to speak again.

"Where is my husband?"

"Now ma'am, I don't-"

"I said. Where. Is. My husband?"

The captain conceded. As he led her through the station, she focused on keeping herself under control and not crying or screaming. She couldn't erase the signs that she had already been crying, but she wouldn't cry anymore in front of Mike. She had to be strong for him, for both of them.

He took her to the interrogation room where Mike was being held. Before he let her in, he handed her a slip of paper.

"This is my number. I know what it's like to lose a child, and your trip through hell is only beginning. If the media starts hounding you, or if anyone else gives you any trouble about this, you call me. You understand?"

She nodded, and he opened the door.

Mike had obviously been crying, too. She had never seen a more broken human being in her life. The sight of him in handcuffs made her breath catch in her throat. He looked up when he heard the door open.

"Zoey?"

"Mike."

"I'm so glad you're safe. I was afraid Mal had… well, I'm just glad you're safe."

There was a pause. What could possibly be said after something like this?

"Zoey I… I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened, I'm sorry, I…" he trailed off and more tears streaked down his face.

"I know it wasn't your fault," she said quietly, though she couldn't look him in the eye. "And it might not be as bad as it seems. They haven't found her yet, so she could still be alive out there somewhere. No news is good news, or at least better than the alternative."

Mike gasped, and so did Zoey as she watched Mal take control of Mike's body.

"So cute, so inspiring. Typical innocent Zoey, holding out hope even when any sane person would have given up already. You always were a few cards short of a deck, and not the brightest candle on the birthday cake. The wheel is turning, but the hamster is definitely dead. But I digress. So sorry I kept Noel out so late, we were just having so much fun we lost track of the time. But don't worry, it won't ever happen again, I promise. As soon as I get out of here, I'll bring Noel straight home and she can open her birthday presents. Well, maybe not. It's kind of hard to open presents when you're worm food."

Without ever making the conscious decision to do so, Zoey pounced on Mal and started punching him in the face and kicking him in the chest.

"You horrible, evil cockroach! You cruel monster!" she screamed at him in blind fury. "How could you do this to us? She was just a little girl, she never did anything to you! What did you have to gain? Nothing! That's what, nothing! You did this just to hurt us, to hurt Mike, and I will make you suffer for what you've done!"

Mal only laughed at her assault, and didn't fight back or even try to shield himself from her blows, even as he started bleeding. She wrapped her fingers around his neck, not sure if she would strangle him or not. Two police officers rushed in and pulled her away as she continued screaming at him and he laughed maniacally.

"Where is she, Mal?! What did you do to her?! Where is Noel?!"

The last thing she heard him say was, "You'll never find her, Zoey! She's gone forever!"

When they released Zoey, that rage was still burning inside her, and she needed to get it out. She spotted a vending machine and punched it, too. As if she hadn't done enough punching already, she let out a full on assault on that vending machine as if it were Mal. One of the cops was going to stop her, but the captain stopped him.

When she stopped to catch her breath, a candy bar dropped down, as if the vending machine were offering it up in surrender. She looked at her knuckles, they were raw and bloody. A woman in a blouse and skirt appeared out of nowhere and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hello, my name is Mary Caldwell. I'm a grief counselor, I work here at the station. The captain asked if I would talk to you. Do you have a minute? I just want to give you my number if you want to talk-"

"Stay away from me!" she yelled as she pushed her out of the way. Zoey shoved the door open and took off running. She had to get out of there, she couldn't stay a moment longer.

She ran to the forest, all the while feeling bad for losing control like that, but not apologetic. Even though she was in no way dressed for the weather, she ran through the snow-laden woods yelling for her daughter.

"Noel!" she screamed. "Noel, where are you?"

She didn't stop until sunrise, and by then her voice was hoarse from all the screaming and her legs were shaking from the cold and all the running. But she didn't go home. She knelt down by a towering oak tree, next to the old abandoned well, and cried until she had no tears left to shed. It felt like Mal had ripped out her very soul, and in that moment, she wished more than anything that she could kill him.

* * *

The next day, the story was all over the news. The story of the loving father turned psycho killer and his dead daughter was on the front page of every newspaper and the main topic of every talk show. It didn't help that Mike and Zoey were former celebrities, that just made the story even juicier.

Cameron heard what had happened and immediately went to see Zoey and Mike. When he called to tell Zoey he was coming, they agreed to meet at the police station, so he could talk to Mike first. While Cameron went to talk to him in an interrogation room, Zoey elected to stay behind and watch behind the one-way mirror, not yet ready to face Mike again. If Mal showed himself again, she wasn't sure she would be able to control herself around him, and she didn't want to hurt Mike more than she already had.

Cameron knocked before opening the door. Mike was sitting at the table, but Cameron didn't sit down.

"Hey buddy," he said, not sure what he really should say.

Mike's face was expressionless; he had a black eye and his cheeks were bruised. Zoey hadn't told Cameron about the incident from yesterday, and so he didn't know how he had wound up with the bruises. She felt guilty for what she had done. Even though it had technically been Mal at the time and she was completely justified in her actions, now that Mike was back in charge he was the one who had to carry around the bruises from his wife. She saw scratches down the side of his face; she hadn't meant to claw him. He wouldn't even know why he was hurt, he would have woken up in pain with no context. She wiped tears away, she was angry at herself for doing that to him. She was supposed to support him, not make things even worse for him. She hoped he wasn't in too much pain.

After a long, drawn-out silence, Mike said quietly, "Remember when Zoey was pregnant? The first time, I mean."

"Yeah," said Cameron, not sure where he was going with this.

"I was going to leave, but you talked me out of it. I was afraid Mal would do something to the baby, but you said we could stop him, that we could keep her safe. You made me believe I was good enough, strong enough to protect my family, and now look what's happened. Noel is dead. My daughter is dead."

"She might not be, we can't confirm anything without a body."

"Are you blind Cameron?" Mike shouted, making him flinch. "Do you honestly think Mal would show her mercy and let her live? Do you think he might have standards and would feel guilty murdering a child? Well here's a newsflash for you: He doesn't! He'd blow up the entire planet if he could, all for a laugh! He doesn't care who he hurts, or even kills; man, woman, or child, they're all the same to him. And he's living inside my head, I can't ever get rid of him, not for good. You can't even begin to imagine what that's like. I should never have listened to you, I should have left then and there. If I had, Noel would still be alive and safe. She'd be home with Zoey right now where Mal couldn't reach her. She was supposed to grow up, go to college, have kids of her own, grow old, and be happy. Now she'll never have any of those things because of me!"

"Mike, please," said Cameron.

Mike was still furious, but tears were streaking down his bruised cheeks. "I want you to leave right now. I never want to see you again."

"Mike, I'm sorry-"

"Get out!"

"If that's what you really want," said Cameron. He knew Mike didn't mean that, and that it was the grief talking, but it still stung. He cared about Noel, and now he hadn't just lost her, he had lost the first friend he had ever made.

He opened the door to leave when he heard Mike whisper. "Take care of her, Cameron, keep her safe. She needs someone right now, please don't let her be alone."

"I'm not really the best person to come to when you want to keep someone safe, but I will take care of her."

"Promise me you will! As long as Zoey needs you, until she doesn't need you anymore."

"I promise. Mike, you know I will."

Zoey went to meet Cameron outside the door. He asked, "Are you sure you don't want to go in and talk to him?"

"Not today, but I will again soon."

They went to leave, but the second they opened the door, they were surrounded by reporters. Cameron slammed the door shut, took a book from his pocket, and let Zoey use it to cover her face. He opened the door again and they made a run for the car, pushing and shoving their way through the crowd. Cameras and recording devices were shoved in their faces as they were assaulted by dozens of questions all at once.

"Zoey! How do you feel about your daughter's murder?"

"Do you believe she might still be alive?"

"Do you have any idea where he might have hidden the body?"

"Was he showing signs of snapping before the incident?"

"Do you think he would have come for you next if he hadn't been caught?"

"Did you know about your husband's disorder before you married him?"

"Would you still have married him and had his children if you had known this would happen?"

"Are you afraid he passed his disorder onto your unborn children?"

"Will you be filing for divorce?"

"Who's that guy with you? Is he your new boyfriend?"

They made it to Zoey's car and drove off without looking back. Cameron would go back for his car later when things calmed down.

Mercifully, there were no reporters at the house, but there was graffiti painted on the door and walls. Written in red paint were the words _Kid Killer_ and_ Psycho_. Zoey gasped when she saw it, but Cameron pulled her inside. Zoey immediately started ranting.

"How could they ask such terrible things? It's like we're not even human to them, just a juicy story. And the graffiti? I thought we had nice neighbors here, but they've turned on us!"

"They're vultures," Cameron agreed. "Don't worry about the vandalism, I'll paint over it tomorrow, first thing."

"You don't need to look after me. I know you have a life to get back to, research to be done, experiments to conduct, I'll be fine."

"I'm not staying because Mike asked me too. No one should be alone after something like this. I can't really be there for Mike right now, but I can at least be here for you. Besides, I can do research here in my downtime."

"I do appreciate it Cam, I really don't want to be by myself right now. I'm kind of afraid I might do something rash if someone isn't here to keep me in check."

"Like shove a reporter's mic down their throat?"

"Something like that." Zoey almost smiled, but then became somber again. "I never got to say goodbye."

"There's no way you could have-"

"No, I mean, the last time I saw her was right before she got on the bus. A neighbor called just to complain, and I was too busy listening to her squawking that I didn't get to tell her goodbye before she left for school. That horrid woman robbed me of my last chance to tell my baby I loved her and hug her goodbye!"

And the floodgates were opened. Cameron had spent most of his life in a bubble, so comforting others wasn't his forte. The best he could do was sit by her on the couch and pat her back while she sobbed, and offer her tissue after tissue.

"Don't get me wrong, I still believe that Noel might be out there somewhere, still alive, but it's hard to have faith when everyone around you is telling you your daughter is dead and gone. All the evidence points to her being dead, but I can't help but hope that she's not. It's all I have left to hope for. If they find her alive, it'll mean Mike is innocent and he can come home, too. Why did Mal have to take them both from me? Why did this have to happen?"

Zoey had made the decision that she would remain strong and not cry or have any more outbursts, but Cameron was one of the few exceptions. He was one of the few people left she could talk to, she could cry in front of him and not feel ashamed.

Cameron let her cry and didn't try to tell her everything was going to be okay, because he couldn't lie to her like that. It was never going to be okay again.


	4. Chapter 4

On Christmas day, instead of celebrating, Zoey spent the day taking down every Christmas decoration in the house, and taking down the lights off the house. Normally, they left the decorations up for at least a week or two after Christmas, but she couldn't stand to look at them anymore. Every time she saw anything related to Christmas, all she could think of was her Christmas baby, and how excited Mike got this time of year. He was spending his favorite holiday in a prison cell. This was the first Christmas in years she spent alone.

Cameron couldn't stay because his mother demanded he spend Christmas with her. He had offered for her to come with him, and Gwen had offered for her to spend Christmas with her and Trent, but she turned them both down. She couldn't handle that, not without Mike and Noel. If she couldn't celebrate with them, she wouldn't celebrate at all.

She put their Christmas presents into storage along with all the decorations. She couldn't bear to throw them away or open them, so she put them away in the attic, instead.

Once all the Christmas stuff was put away and out of sight, she walked through the house, once so full of life, now empty. She went into Noel's room and ran her fingers over the butterfly wallpaper. She felt the fabric of the dresses she and Noel had made together. She held her dolls and sat down on her bed. On the floor was Mike's wooden sword, and Noel's tiara.

Outside the window, she could see Noel's swingset. She could hear Noel's laughter as she yelled for Mike to push her higher, higher. She remembered when she was too scared to go down the slide the first time, and Mike had to coax her down. He caught her, he always caught her. She saw the sandbox, and she remembered how they would make big castles that would later fall down.

Zoey went back downstairs and wrapped herself in a blanket and sat on the couch, feeling the crushing ache of loneliness. She and Mike had spent many winter nights curled up in this blanket, warm and cozy together. It didn't feel right to have the blanket all to herself. She sat like that for a long while, until she couldn't stand it anymore. She got up and went to the phone. It took all her courage to press the buttons, but she needed to do it, for him, and for herself.

"Fitzgerald."

"Captain, it's Zoey. I have a question: Did Mike ever use his one phone call?"

"No, he didn't."

"Could he use it now?"

"I think that could be arranged. I'll put you on hold, just wait one minute."

It was a little more than a minute, but he came through for her.

"Hello?"

"Mike, it's me."

"Zoey? What's going on, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to hear your voice. Are you doing okay?"

"Are you?"

"I asked you first."

He sighed. "About as well as you'd expect. What about you?"

"Same. Are they treating you well down there?"

"It's not so bad, as far as jail goes. Courtney came by yesterday, she offered to take my case. She said that even though she's not a defense attorney, she's guaranteed to win. I turned her down."

"Are you going to fight this at all?"

"There's no battle to fight for. Mal already won."

"Don't say that."

"It's true. But can we not talk about this? I don't want to talk about this on Christmas."

"Me neither."

Neither could think of anything more to say.

"Merry Christmas," she said quietly, even though there was nothing merry about it.

"Merry Christmas," he parroted with no feeling.

"I love you, Mike. Don't forget that, okay?"

"I love you too."

She hung up the phone and went outside to sit on Noel's swing. She kept looking to the forest, as though Noel might come running out and into her arms. She knew better than to expect such a thing, but she couldn't stop looking and waiting, just in case.

* * *

Three weeks later, Noel still hadn't been found, and Mike had his very own cell at St. Leonardo's mental asylum for the criminally insane. His detainment there was indefinite.

The trial had been just a formality; every shred of evidence pointed at Mike, and even if there had been some doubt, he would have pled guilty anyway. He was ready to let them put him in prison, but Zoey had managed to persuade him to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. He believed he deserved prison even though he technically wasn't the culprit, but Zoey knew that there were criminals who had it out for people who hurt or killed children. She was afraid someone might kill him in there.

A guard brought him to his cell. The front was made of thick glass, and the other three walls were dingy gray. There were no windows, but at least the bed didn't look too uncomfortable. There was also a metal toilet, but nothing else.

He took a step into the room, but the guard grabbed him by the arm and said in a threatening whisper, "You know what I think? I think you're faking to get out of going to jail for what you did to your daughter. You would have done the same to your wife if they hadn't caught you first. You might think you're getting off easy, but you'll get hit by the hammer of justice sooner or later, you just wait and see."

Mike scowled. "Just you wait until the others introduce themselves, then we'll see who's faking."

The guard slammed the door shut, and Mike was left alone to his thoughts. He laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. The white shirt and pants he was made to wear were itchy and too big on him.

He was getting better at ignoring jabs like that. Sticks and stones might break his bones, but how could the words of others hurt him when he was already mentally torturing himself? No one could say anything he didn't already think of himself.

And Mal. Mal was always there to make sure he could never have any peace and quiet, and to add on his own special brand of mental torture. He was stronger than before, because Mike no longer had the will to fight him.

"_Maybe he's right Mike, maybe you are a liar. Maybe I didn't kill Noel at all, maybe you did! What a plot twist that would be! You killed her! You're a murderer! You killed the girl!"_

"Shut up! I know that's not true, I am not a murderer!"

"_You're guilty!"_

"No I'm not!"

"_GUILTY!"_

"Stop it! You did those things to her, not me!"

"_Who really killed her? Who's to blame?"_

"You are!"

"_Are you sure? How do you know you didn't kill her and then pin on me? You're really good at making things up and believing in them so much that they become reality. You've got five prime examples of that talent living inside your head. I guess killing the baby was too much for little Mikey-wikey, how could he ever live with the truth?"_

"Leave me alone!" Mike screamed.

The guard outside shouted, "Stop making such a loud racket, you'll disturb the others! You're talking to yourself, anyway!"

"_Mike's in trouble," _said Mal in a sing-song voice. He laughed and said,_ "Better be careful, keep talking to yourself and they might lobotomize you. It's no fun being a vegetable."_

"Stop talking to me, stop lying to me."

"_Okay, so maybe I was lying. Still, with a brain like yours, anything is possible, am I right or am I right? You know, I'm digging the new pad. The gray really brings out our eyes, don't you think? And the wails and screeching from the other inmates makes for such relaxing background music. Five stars, easy."_

Mal's favorite activity nowadays was having a running commentary of everything going on around them. He always had something to say about everything. Mike tried to ignore him, but Mal had a talent for picking out the things that he knew would hurt him most. The others were all silent; partly out of grief for Noel and for being locked up in the madhouse for a crime they didn't commit, and partly out of fear of Mal. Mike knew he must have them locked up like last time in Total Drama, and their torture was sure to be worse this time. He wanted to help them, but he didn't see how he possibly could.

"_That guard was rude, though. What do you say we set his pants on fire?"_

"Shut up, Mal."

"_Everyone look out, the Mike ship has set sail for No-Fun Island. Hey Mike, the doctor who took our case is female, right? Now, I'm not really the dating kind, but I could use some entertainment. Let's seduce her. She can be the Harley Quinn to my Joker, the Misa to my Light, the Bellatrix to my Voldemort. Bonus if she's blonde. Zoey won't mind, right? Actually, it would probably be a relief. It would give her a valid excuse to dump your nutty butt and go for someone else, someone whose brain is all their own. Like Justin maybe, he's sane, easy on the eyes, and single. It's a match made in heaven. But you'd think murdering her daughter would be a pretty good excuse by itself. Go figure."_

"Why, Mal?"

"_Why what? Why is the sky blue? Why aren't unicorns real? You're going to have to be a bit more specific there."_

"Why did you kill her? Revenge? To get back at me for making you take the abuse when I was a kid?"

"_Now you're just insulting me. Sure, maybe at one time in my life I wanted revenge, but I've changed for the better. I'm a lot of things, Mike, but petty is not one of them. You know, it's not like I planned any of this. At least, not from the start. I had no plans to escape, at least not on that day, and I was perfectly content staying where I was. But then Manitoba got clunked on the noggin, and that loosened my shackles enough for me to get free. I hadn't been allowed out for so long, and so I decided to make up for all my missed Saturdays by doing the most fun thing I could think of."_

"Why did you kill her?" asked Mike as he began to cry. "What did she ever do to deserve this?"

"_Nothing."_

"Then why would you do it? She was just a little girl! She was innocent!"

"_Because I felt like it."_

"Is that all you have to say for yourself, you _felt_ like it?"

"_What do you want me to say?"_

"There must be some method to your madness, there must have been some reason you did what you did. No one wakes up and just decides to go murder someone!"

"_Well, it was a Monday."_

"That is not why you did it and you know it!"

"_Why does there have to be a method? There is no method with chaos. I was bored, I wished to relieve the boredom. Would it make you feel better if there was a reason she's dead, instead of it just being random? Sorry pal, there was no reason. Well, I mean, her murder is killing you and Zoey, so there's that. There's your reason, happy now?"_

"Why do you hate me so much? You took all my memories from when I was a kid to protect me, you bore them in my place. When you gave them back, I saw how much I suffered and how much you did to help me. You took it upon yourself to try to protect me. You used to care about me, we used to be friends, but now you get off on hurting me in every way imaginable, why?"

"_I don't hate you anymore Mike, I haven't in years. We're pals, remember? I'm just a lover of chaos, and look at all the chaos I've caused. It's nothing personal, it's just so fun to twist you to see how far I can twist you before you can't be untwisted._

"_But Mike, who took most of the punishments?"_

"You did."

"_That's right, I took over half of them. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't care about that anymore, but I don't want you forget it. That is, after you said "And let there be Mal." And there was Mal, and Mike saw it and said it was good. I don't know how much crap went on before I came along. I didn't like it when the others moved in, it was just supposed to be you and me. But I thought to myself, maybe they can help me take some of these punishments. Maybe I've finally caught a break. But I was wrong. By the way, are you aware of the half-formed personalities living with us in here?"_

"Vaguely."

"_That's what I figured. They live in the recesses of your mind, lurking along the edges. I don't think you've ever actually seen one, but you've definitely heard them, in your nightmares. There are a few of them, they never made it to the final cut and so they're all grotesque and beastly. And by a few, I mean dozens. I had to get rid of most of them because your head got so cramped there was barely room to breathe. I let a few of my favorites live, though I'm pretty sure they wish I hadn't."_

"You got rid of some of my personalities?"

"_Yeah, and your meltdowns would be a whole lot more hellish if I hadn't, so you're welcome. See, I do take care of you. You were the most messed up kid I've ever seen, that's all I'm saying."_

"Why did you never get rid of me, or the others?"

"_Punishing them is more amusing than simply making them cease to exist. You should see what I'm making the others do right now, it's hilarious. You see Mike, the reason I won't offer them the mercy of nonexistence is because they don't deserve it. They took a few dozen punishments out of hundreds. You see where I'm coming from? The halfling personas took more punishments than that, but they can barely process coherent thought, so it doesn't count. _

"_As if that wasn't bad enough, they would force themselves on you and take your body to have fun. Sure, they helped you escape the bullies and that was all well and good, but that was all they ever did. I always asked you before I took over, and even then it was only a few times. Otherwise I didn't come out unless you needed me too, so I only got the bad, never any good. How could they be so ungrateful? If it weren't for you, there would be no them. It made me so angry, but then one thing led to another, and I eventually stopped being grateful, too. I realized how meaningless your little life was, and that I didn't need to be wasting my time trying to fix the unfixable. That's when I started having fun of my own. But for years, I could think of nothing better than being your friend._

He sounded angry, but then he let out a howl of laughter. _"I was so innocent and naïve then, wasn't I? Understandable, given the way you made me. Really, you shouldn't be surprised I turned out like this. You made me different from the others. Do you know how I'm different?"_

"You were the first one I created, and I created you as a blank slate. The others all had personalities built in, they had identities to anchor themselves with, but you didn't. I didn't even give you a name."

"_Correct. I didn't get anything beyond existence. You gave me no name, no real identity to work with, nothing to ground myself with. I guess I should be grateful that I didn't end up like the half-formed alters in your head, that would have sucked. _

"_But I looked up to you like a big brother, and all I wanted in life was to make you happy. So I bit off a bit more than I could chew when it came to taking your punishments. Remember when your daddy broke two of your ribs? I stayed in control during the entire healing process, trying to figure out which position hurt the least to breathe in. And I was always so scared of your mom when she would yell and lock me up in the dark, but I was honored to take all that for you. I was so pathetic then!" _He punctuated this with more laughter.

"How can you laugh about that? It's you you're talking about, your own pain and fear! Don't those memories haunt you, don't they ever keep you up at night?"

"_Nope. I'm laughing because it's funny! I was so weak and helpless, there was nothing I could do to put a stop to the hell I was living. That was the whole reason I was even alive, pain and fear! Because you didn't give me an identity of my own, I had to make one myself. I based my whole identity on being your guardian angel, not knowing I was destined to fail. After I failed and my eyes were opened, I had to remake my entire identity, and I gave myself a name: the Malevolent One. I'd say it was a great improvement, wouldn't you agree? But don't you see Mike? All that taught me how pointless all this is, and how the only constant in a corrupt world like ours is chaos. And like I said before, I love chaos."_

"She was my daughter, Mal. I loved her. Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't you have done it to me, instead? You could have killed me and left Noel and Zoey alone. Why didn't you let me take her place?!"

"_Our_ _daughter. And isn't it obvious? Two birds, one stone. Why hurt one when I can hurt them all? Ironic, isn't it, that I once dedicated my life to saving yours, and now I've dedicated it to destroying it. And you know Mike, I wasn't lying before. If it weren't for you, Noel would still be alive. You are guilty."_

He pushed Mal out of his thoughts, but he was still there. He was always there.

* * *

"Zoey! I brought home a pizza! Come get some before it gets cold!" Cameron called from the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry!" she called back from up the stairs.

"Remember, the twins need to eat!"

Grudgingly, Zoey came down the steps and took a slice of pizza to nibble on. Using the twins was the only excuse that worked to get Zoey to eat. She never had an appetite anymore, so Cameron had to take it upon himself to ensure she ate at least twice a day.

Cameron had been sleeping on Zoey's couch every night since that first night, and he had no intention of moving out anytime soon. It was harder to get work done from her house, but it was worth it to honor his promise to Mike. At least the couch had become more comfortable over time, and he had a friend he could talk to.

Zoey didn't let a single minute of her time go to waste. The house was always spotless, there wasn't a speck of dust or dirt to be found anywhere. She started working out at the gym, but she took it easy so as not to hurt the twins, and she started going on morning runs. She was more grateful than ever for her job at Noel's school. She loved all her kindergarteners, and it reminded her of when Noel was in kindergarten, less than a year ago. Teaching and helping them made her feel like she was making a difference, and immersing herself in their problems helped her forget her own.

She started sewing again as well, something she hadn't done in a while. She was making so many hats, booties, and blankets for the twins that her fingers were practically raw. Keeping busy kept her mind from wandering, and this way she didn't have time to feel sorry for herself. It was also exhausting, and so she was able to fall asleep without having to think of all she had lost.

Cameron was usually her only company. In the early days after Noel's disappearance (she refused to refer to it as her death) friends and neighbors had stopped by to offer condolences and drop off more casserole than she could eat in a lifetime. But after that, no one stopped by or spoke more than two sentences to her at a time. The most anyone did anymore was look on her with pity. They kept their distance, as if what had happened to her might spread throughout the community like a disease.

She understood why they were doing this; they were afraid for their own children, even though the perpetrator had been caught weeks ago. They were all still reeling from the shock that such a nice person could suddenly become a killer. If it had happened to someone else, she might have acted the same way, but that didn't excuse what they were doing. In a way though, she preferred it like this. At least no one was trying to get her to pour out her heart and soul, or tell her they understood when they never ever could, or repeat the old cliché that time heals all wounds. The wounds might heal, but the scars would never fade and they would stay with her until the day she died.

* * *

A few days after Mike was put in the asylum, his parents came to visit him. Mike had half-expected them not to come. Surely there must be some limit to their love and patience, and this should have been the final straw. But they came, and he was so glad to see them.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad," he said when they came in.

"Hey baby," said Holly.

"Hey sport," said Jack.

"I'm so sorry-"

"No apologies, Mike," said Holly.

"But-"

"I said no."

"Someone needs to be sorry for what happened, and it's not going to be Mal."

"What happened wasn't your fault, Mike," said Jack. "I don't want you blaming yourself for something someone else did. Blaming yourself isn't going to fix anything, so you're wasting your time."

"Why are you here?" asked Mike. "You should have given up on me after this. You should have given up on me years ago. Why are you still here?"

"We told you before Mike, it's our job. We take parenting very seriously. That, and I know this comes as a shock to you, but we love you. We always have, and we always will," said Holly.

They weren't at all surprised when Mal came out. They had never met him, but they had been expecting at least one of his personalities to make an appearance.

"Hi, my name's Mal," he said in a friendly tone. "I just wanted to meet you guys. Mike kept me locked up for years, so we've never had the chance to get acquainted. I'd shake your hand, but the glass is in the way. At least I'm not in a straightjacket, those things itch like crazy. You're welcome, by the way."

"For what?" asked Holly.

"For bringing Mike to you! Did he ever tell you about the memories I gave him of the before times? The memories I took from him to protect him when he was little?"

"He gave us the general idea, he didn't give details and we didn't ask," said Jack.

"Then I'll assume he didn't tell you about my favorite memory, of when I burned his parent's house to the ground. Don't worry, they had it coming. As you might imagine, growing up with a lunatic for a mother and a psychopath for a father caused some… growing pains. After that, I went on an arson-spree until I got caught and taken to juvie. I was only eight, but I was running the place. You don't even want to know what I had to do to win dominance over all those scary teenagers. But after a while I became too much for them there and I was transferred to my first asylum. It was there that Mike eventually regained control and ran away, and you found him and took him in like a lost puppy. If I hadn't roasted his parents and all those other houses, you never would have become a family. Truly, a Hallmark moment."

"And what do you expect from us, Mal?" asked Jack. "Do you want us to yell at you for what you did? Do you want us to demand you give Mike back control? You're dealing with the parents who have seen it all, and we're not intimidated by you. You're a monster, and there is nothing else to you beyond that. There is nothing good inside you, you're rotten to the core."

"Now you're just being mean. I thought we were all friends here, but I guess not. I just want to say that you guys are really great parents. Mike was lucky to have you.

"I'm not all bad, you know. I still look out for him, believe it or not. But I could always turn on him. You see, pain has no effect on me anymore. If anything, it feels good, it means you're alive. For years, I only came out when Mike was in pain, and so pain was all I knew. We're very close friends, now. So if, hypothetically speaking of course, I had a piece of broken glass, nothing would stop me from digging it into my skin, slitting my own throat. Mike would wake up in a pool of his own blood and have no idea where it was coming from.

"I have all the power in this mind. Sometimes I let him lull himself into believing he's the one in control, but he's not, he never has been. Call me whatever you want, I've been called worse. Just remember that I hold Mike's life in my hands. I don't plan on doing anything to him anytime soon, but I could always change my mind. I'm very flip-floppy like that. If I do, Mike won't be able to stop me. You won't be here to save your little boy, just like he couldn't save his little girl."

Mal flashed them a Cheshire grin, then let Mike take back the wheel.

"What were you saying?" he asked.

Neither knew what to say. Although they had always supported him and believed he had great potential, there was always the lingering fear in the back of their minds that one day his personalities would become too much for him to handle anymore, and he would have to be institutionalized. Now their worst nightmare had come true, and it was worse than they had ever imagined. Not only had they lost their son, they had lost their granddaughter, as well.

They had both stood strong and looked Mal in the face, but they couldn't bear it anymore. Jack burst into tears and bawled, while Holly held him and wiped away tears of her own. Never in his life had Mike seen Jack shed a single tear, but here he was sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, son," said Jack, once he had composed himself enough to speak.

"Everything is going to be okay Mike," said Holly. "Everything is going to be just fine, you hear me?"

He nodded.

They couldn't say that everything was not going to be fine, that they had lost everything. The truth was too appalling to speak out loud, and so all his parents could do was lie that things would get better, and all Mike could do was pretend to believe it.

* * *

A week later, on the one month anniversary of Noel's disappearance, the whole town gathered to have a memorial service for Noel. Zoey had not been consulted on this, and at first she was angry. A memorial service would make her death official, and Zoey was still refusing to believe she was dead. But this was the community's way of honoring her, of showing how much Noel had meant to them and how much she was missed. How could she be angry about that?

The best thing about the service was that Mike was being allowed to attend. She hadn't told anyone except Cameron, because she knew they wouldn't take it well. She hoped they would be able to lay low and not cause any commotion. Mike deserved some time in the free world, even if it was only for an hour or two.

Zoey picked up Mike half an hour before the service. He was accompanied by a guard to ensure that Mal couldn't hurt anyone, but that was the only security being enforced, since Mike was nonviolent. He was even allowed to wear street clothes, instead of the white uniform he was made to wear at the asylum.

There was a brief service in the local church where the people who knew Noel were given a chance to say a few words about their time with her. Neither Mike nor Zoey could bring themselves to speak, but Cameron talked about all the things he'd loved about her, and how she was like a niece to him.

Afterwards, everyone took a candle and they went outside for a candlelight vigil. They were to walk from the school to the edge of the forest, reliving Noel's final moments. Mike and Zoey held hands and candles. Mike's guard followed them with a candle in hand, but he stayed back a few feet and didn't hover over them.

As they began the trek, several of their friends from Total Drama were there, and they offered their condolences.

Geoff and Bridgette found them first, along with their four boys, Drew, Carter, Cory, and Alex.

"So sorry about what happened, man," said Geoff. "It really sucks."

"If there's ever anything we can do, just let us know," said Bridgette.

"You guys flew all the way in from Hawaii just to be here tonight, that's more than enough," said Zoey.

Next came Gwen and Trent.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," said Trent as he patted Mike on the back. "I can't even imagine what this must be like."

Gwen handed their six month old, Haven, over to Trent so she could hug Zoey. They were still close friends, even though Total Drama had ended years ago. When Gwen had first heard the news, she called Zoey and they cried together over the phone.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"Better. Not great, but better."

"I'll do whatever I can to help you with the twins."

"I can't ask that of you, you have to do those paintings, and Haven must keep you busy."

"I'm never too busy to help out a friend, and Leshawna said she'd help to. You know she and Harold adopted all those kids, so you know she means business. She'll take good care of you. You're not alone in this."

"Thanks Gwen, you're the best."

It encouraged Mike to see their friends helping Zoey like this. He didn't have to worry about her so much now, he knew she was in good hands.

"Where's Tom?" he asked.

Gwen half-smiled. "Duncan caught him kissing Olivia and is currently scaring the living hell out of him."

"I think he's overreacting, don't you?" said Trent. "Tom might be a troublemaker, but so is Olivia, and besides, he's only thirteen. What does he expect him to do?"

"You know how Duncan gets over his little girl. You'd feel the same if it was Haven." Gwen realized what she had just said. She glanced at her baby daughter and back at Mike and Zoey, mortified. "I didn't mean, I'm so sorry, I-"

"Don't worry about it," said Mike.

Gwen and Trent left and were replaced by Owen. He grabbed them both and held them in a rib-shattering hug.

"Even though I never got to meet Noel, I know she's awesome because you guys are awesome. Just so you know, I still think she's alive, and no one will convince me otherwise."

"Thanks Owen, that means a lot," said Zoey. It was like a breath of fresh air to finally hear someone besides herself say that Noel was still alive.

Owen put them back on the ground, and Noah came over with his four year old daughter, Lindy, hanging upside down on his back.

"Someone forget to lock the door on your padded cage, jailbird?" Noah asked. Seeing the pained expressions on both their faces, he backtracked. "I didn't mean it, all right? I know you're going through hell. I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to Lindy. I never wanted to be a dad, but life has never cared about what I want. For once though, I'm glad the universe goes out of its way to give me the opposite of what I ask for." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "What I'm saying is, I'm sorry."

Noah turned to go and said, "Tell Izzy I said hi when you go back, Mike."

"Sure," he replied.

Owen looked sad at the mention of Izzy's name.

"You really miss her, don't you Owen?" said Zoey as she put a comforting hand on his arm.

He took a deep sigh. "She's happy, and she makes my little buddy happy, and that's good enough for me. We still talk and hang out all the time, and it's great. She even still bites me sometimes, so I know she still likes me. There's always hope that we could get together again, like when we're old and racing in our wheelchairs at the retirement home." The thought seemed to cheer him up a bit.

"That's the spirit, Owen," said Mike.

Owen left then, and Duncan and Courtney came and offered their condolences, as well. On their way out, Olivia blew Tom a kiss when her parents weren't looking, and he caught it and waved goodbye to her.

Lindsay and Tyler, Sierra and Cody, and their other friends from Total Drama came to offer condolences, as well. The whole thing was going well; the night sky was devoid of stars but the candles more than made up for it, and for the first time in a while, Zoey didn't feel so sad. But then the moment was ruined when they reached the edge of the forest and they were met by the most surprising guest: nine year old Alejito himself.

"Are you Noel's mother?" he asked.

"Yes, I am," said Zoey. "What are you doing here, Alejito? Are your parents here?"

"No, they're having dinner with some neighbors. Mama wants their house but they won't sell, so she and Papi have a plan to trick them into signing it over to us."

"They're trying to take someone else's house?" said Mike.

"It's a very nice house, it has a hot tub and an elevator. Papi says only the best for a diplomat and his family."

From what they'd heard, Alejito hadn't inherited his parent's evil, though he could pull tricks if he needed to. His sister Angelica most certainly had.

"Do they know you're here?" asked Zoey.

"I told Mama that I was going to take the money from the bake sale and hide it in my rival's desk and get him in trouble so he'll be suspended so I can become class president. I might do it, I haven't decided yet. But I wanted to come here tonight, and I knew they wouldn't approve of me coming out by myself. It took nearly all my savings just to bribe Angelica into keeping quiet, the rest went into buying a bus ticket here, so don't tell my parents."

He gave Zoey a red rose and said, "I considered Noel to be my closest friend. I was looking forward to spending more time with her at camp next summer, but that's not going to happen. We wrote letters to each other, but I won't be getting anymore now. I miss her so much."

"Thank you, Alejito. That's very sweet of you."

His eyes were sad, but anger replaced the sadness when he looked at Mike. "Why is he here? He's the one who killed her, isn't he? It's his fault I'll never see her again!"

"Calm down, everything is all right," said Zoey.

"Mama and Papi told me he's a freak and that's why he did it."

"He's not a freak, Alejito. Don't listen to everything your parents tell you. And it wasn't his fault, it's complicated."

"I beg to differ!" said a stranger from the crowd. Zoey had seen him before, but she didn't remember his name. "He's the one who killed the girl, and they let him out here, where he could kill the rest of our children?"

"Mike has every right to be here!" Zoey fired back.

"He killed his own daughter, he doesn't have any rights anymore!"

Up until now, most of the crowd had been keeping their distance from Mike and pretending he wasn't there, but now this guy was getting them riled up.

"He wasn't in control of himself, he never would have hurt Noel otherwise!"

"Zoey, let it go, don't fight for me," said Mike quietly.

"That is exactly what I'm going to do!" she said through her teeth.

"The man is insane, he needs to be locked up!"

"He is not insane!"

By now nearly the entire crowd was murmuring in agreement. They were scared of Mike and wanted him gone, and their fear and anger were too much for Mal to resist.

"They're scared of me, are they? I think they want a show. Don't want to disappoint my adoring public." Mal quickly climbed a tree so he could be seen by everyone.

"Mike, no!" yelled Zoey.

"So, you're afraid I'll do to your children what I did to my own? Why not? I'm game for anything. That sounds like a lot of fun, I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. All these candles look like one big bonfire, or is that just me? It's giving me some naughty ideas."

Mal leapt down from the tree, and Brick and Jo grabbed him. Dakota, with her giant mutated hand, snatched him out of their hold and held him tight. He couldn't move in her grasp.

"Evil bully! Dakota should crush Mal!"

Dakota could have squashed him like a bug, and she really wanted to, but Sam quickly reminded her that she couldn't do so without killing Mike, and so she settled for growling at him menacingly. Mal wasn't intimidated and growled right back.

She restrained him until his guard could get a straightjacket on him. Mal surrendered control back to Mike just in time to see Zoey look away and start to cry. The crowd was getting as far away from him as possible, some were even screaming and running in terror; no one wanted to be anywhere near the murderer.

The guard had called for backup, and within minutes a squad car was there to take him back to the asylum. All the way back, the only sound Mike could hear was Mal's cackling laughter.


	5. Chapter 5

In the five months after the memorial service, Zoey only visited twice a month, not that Mike blamed her for it. Before the incident at the memorial service, she had visited him at least once a week, but now he was sure that whenever she looked at him, she would only see Mal, not Mike.

His life fell into a dull routine. In the first two months of his stay, every day he was allowed an hour outside his cell to either watch TV, make arts and crafts, play board games in the lounge, or take a walk in the garden with supervision. He could shower twice a week, but he wasn't allowed a razor, so his face became stubbly. He hated the felling of the rough stubble, but at least he didn't have to take supervised showers like some of the other patients.

For a few weeks, Izzy had been in there with him because of something to do with the RCMP, though he had no idea what because she kept changing her story. Her incarceration was more like a time-out than anything, she herself referred to it as a holiday. She was always happy to see him and never judged him, and he valued her friendship. He'd always thought her weird and insane when he watched the first three seasons of Total Drama. He still believed she was weird and insane, but he found it charming and welcome now. It was just nice to have someone to talk to.

One day in the lounge, they were playing checkers together, and Izzy was winning.

"Izzy, you can't use the pieces you captured from me," he told her.

"I'm just using them as little hats for my soldiers, they look so cute now! My adorable little warriors. And there goes your king, more hats!"

"Do you play checkers with Noah at home?"

"Oh no, checkers would just put my Tiny N to sleep. He can barely keep his eyes open during chess. It has to be mind-numbingly difficult just to pique his interest. Lindy's like that too, she won't even do coloring books unless they're in Japanese."

"Do you think you and Noah will ever have more kids?"

"Are you kidding? Do you know how long it took him to agree to having one? Do you know the lengths I had to go to? I had to seduce him as Brainzilla to finally make him say yes. So what if he had to practically raise his million nieces and nephews? His family is nice, and big families are great. I don't know why he doesn't want a big family, but I'll settle for Lindy. I think she might be a little crazy though, it must come from Noah's side of the family because there is no way she got it from me."

Mike smiled a little at that.

"Noah put a trampoline in our living room for our anniversary this year. I've been asking for an indoor trampoline for forever, but he always said no because he would have to get rid of the couch. That was his favorite couch, and he got rid of it just for me. He's the sweetest thing in the world."

"I never would have thought Noah was capable of that, not from what I saw of him on the show."

"He's a tough nut to crack, but I cracked him. By the way, did you know that rabbits are actually UFOs that came to earth to take over the world?"

"No, I didn't. Is that true?" He knew it wasn't, but strange topics like these were always interesting.

"They used to be extremely intelligent carnivores, but they forgot the mission. If they hadn't, they'd be the dominant species, instead of us."

Mike listened as she told him about how the government created geese to chase people who tell lies and how there is no such thing as the color blue and how she believed Lindy was the reincarnation of Noah's grandmother's pet cat. While she was talking, she took off her wedding ring and spun it on the table. Every now and again she would flick it too hard and it would go flying off the table. Every time Mike would retrieve it for her and she would thank him and start spinning it again. In truth, he enjoyed listening to her mad ramblings. They were always a nice distraction.

Just as she was telling him about the lobster ghost haunting the meatloaf, Noah came in.

"Hey Iz, you ready to go?"

"Go? Go where?" asked Mike.

"Hey Tiny N!" Izzy jumped out of her chair and did a flip onto Noah's shoulders. He had been expecting this and tried to move out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough and they both ended up on the floor.

"If you keep doing that you're going to break my spine in half," Noah groaned.

"That would be okay, then I could carry you around everywhere, like when I carried you over the threshold at our wedding! By the way, where's Lindy?"

"Kids aren't allowed in here, remember?" said Noah as they picked themselves up off the floor.

"Did you leave her outside alone, by herself? Noah, do you know how irresponsible that is?"

"It's okay, I left her with a hitman, he didn't seem too murderous."

"There's a hitman outside? What's he look like? I want to meet him!"

"Oh you know, blond hair, big as a whale, sound familiar?"

"That sounds like Owen!"

"Definitely a coincidence."

"I'm going to give Lindy the shiv I made. Look at it!" she said as she showed it to him proudly. "I painted it purple, her favorite color!"

"That's a great gift for a four year old," he said as he rolled his eyes.

"I knew you'd think so." Izzy kissed him, and he kissed her back, but only for a second. She had mentioned to Mike before that Noah didn't like public displays of affection. She took his hand instead, and he didn't stop her.

"Let's get going, I made reservations at your favorite restaurant and they'll give away our table if we don't get there soon. I brought clothes for you to change into."

"You're leaving?" asked Mike as he stood out of his chair.

"Izzy's served her time, I'm checking her out."

"You didn't mention your sentence was over."

"I totally forgot! I am such a ding-dong!" said Izzy as she laughed and face-palmed. "Wow, time really does fly when you're having fun! And now we're going to celebrate my homecoming!"

"Oh, well, congratulations," said Mike with a tight smile. He was glad she was getting to go home, but he would be losing the one and only friend he had in here.

Izzy jumped over the table and hugged him. She lifted him up off his feet and squeezed so tight he couldn't breathe. As she was hugging him, Noah discreetly slipped the shiv out of her hand and hid it behind his back.

"You're officially on my list of cool people. I wish I could say you're at the top, but the top belongs to a guy I met in here once who thought he was dead and cut his own hand off with a spoon. No one can ever top that. But I'm going to miss you!"

"I'll miss you too, Izzy," he managed to say.

She set him back on the floor and looked at her hand. "Where'd my shiv go?"

"Must have been the fairies again," said Noah.

"They're always taking my stuff! Oh well, I'll just give her the jewelry box I made her in arts and crafts. She won't like it as much as the shiv, though."

"I think she would love a jewelry box," said Mike.

"You think so? Well, we'll soon find out. Mike, I'll come back some time to visit, and when you get out, we'll celebrate together! I'll make sure Owen doesn't eat all the food. Won't that be fun?"

Mike was pretty sure Izzy knew why he was in here, but either she had forgotten or just didn't care. Either way, he just went along with it. "Sure, that would be great."

Izzy skipped out of the lounge, and Noah gave him a curt nod and followed her. Mike really was going to miss her. She had been a good friend to him for the past few weeks, but now she was gone. No one else was interested in talking to a child murderer.

His free time was ruined by Mal one day in the cafeteria. Another inmate began harassing Mike about Noel and challenged him to a fight. Before the guy could even throw a punch, Mal took the spoon he had been eating with and gouged the guy's eye out with it. Mike's privileges were revoked and he had to spend every hour in his room, and he was only allowed out for therapy. Mal claimed he was only trying to help, and that he was just protecting him like old times.

Therapy sessions weren't so bad. His doctor was kind and gentle, and she didn't blame Mike for what had happened. He hadn't been able to see a psychiatrist in months because his insurance stopped covering his sessions and they couldn't afford to pay themselves. They had been working hard to find a psychiatrist that had a good reputation that was in their price range, but in the meantime, Mike had seemed to be doing okay without one.

Mike didn't mind talking to her once a week, and she believed they were making progress, until the day she asked Mike to bring out Mal so she could study him and possibly find out where Noel's body was hidden. Mike refused, but he hadn't been able to stop Mal when he suddenly appeared and began to flirt with her.

"Mike didn't tell me his doctor was an angel. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, what are you doing talking to a nut-job like me?"

He made her feel sorry for him. Producing fake tears was his specialty.

"You're the only one who understands me."

"I have nightmares every night from when I was younger."

"I'm the real personality, not Mike. At least, I think I am. It's so confusing, I don't know what's real half the time. You don't know what it's like to share a brain with someone else, it's so hard. If I could be my own person, I wouldn't be like this. That's why I killed the girl, I didn't know what I was doing. I wish I could take it back."

"Can you make the pain go away?"

"I don't want to be bad, I just need someone to teach me to be good again. If only there was someone who could help me redeem myself."

She was a good psychiatrist, she was able to put aside her own problems and help her patients with theirs. But underneath, she was emotionally needy and vulnerable, and Mal saw that a mile away. He found the weak points in her wall and manipulated them to bring the wall tumbling down.

"Have you ever had any girlfriends, Mal?"

"Oh no, not a one. The closest I ever came to having one was when I was a kid, before my stint in juvie. Her name was Violet, she was a homeless orphan and I took her under my wing. Though she seemed shy and quiet at first, I discovered her dark side and brought it out. She's the only friend I've ever had, come to think of it."

"What happened to Violet?"

"I locked her in a burning building."

"Why would you do that?"

"I knew I was going to be caught, and I didn't want to leave any loose ends. Besides, she was scrappy, I'm sure she got out alive, maybe. I hope she did, I'm kind of interested to see how she turned out."

"Do you have feelings for her?"

"Oh no, only for you."

The first time she kissed him, and every time after that, Mal kissed her back like a pro, and he pretended to feel something, but he felt absolutely nothing. All he felt was pride in his ability to trick people into thinking he had a heart. She poured her heart and soul out to him and he pretended to be sympathetic. He let her cry on his shoulder when she was feeling down and he told her all the things she wanted to hear. He always knew exactly what to say and when to say it.

"Your boyfriend is way out of line, if he really loved you, he wouldn't stay in contact with his old girlfriends. You deserve so much better."

"Mal, I don't know what I would do without you. You're charming and funny and smart and you've supported me more than anyone else ever has. You don't deserve to be locked up in here."

"But if I wasn't locked up in here, I never would have met you."

Over the course of a month, Mal had almost completely seduced her, and she might have helped him escape, but he was foiled when another doctor realized what was happening and put a stop to it before things got out of hand. The woman was fired immediately, but before she left, she went by Mike's cell to ask Mal if he loved her.

"I've realized that I love you. Do you love me, Mal?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Dr. Clemenzi! Don't pretend you don't know me."

"You must have me confused with someone else," he said calmly.

"This isn't funny! I lost my job for you!"

"I've never seen you before in my life. Good day."

"What are you talking about? Mal, I love you!"

He ignored her and looked right through her, like she wasn't there at all. She let out a yell of frustration and tried to make him acknowledge her, but he kept his silence until a guard made her leave in tears.

"Oh well, it was fun while it lasted," he said with an indifferent shrug.

Mike was assigned a male doctor, and therapy took place in his cell, with the doctor on the other side of the glass. In short, Mike was not allowed out of his cell at all, for any reason, which was just what Mal wanted.

"_Now it's just you and me, alone at last."_

He wished the others would talk to him, or even try to take control, but none of them had appeared since he was arrested. Their almost constant chatter in his head was often distracting, but comforting, too, in a way. He no longer heard their voices, and sometimes he would intentionally try to trigger them, like by removing his shirt or stubbing his toe, but of course it never worked. Just like in All-Stars, they were nowhere to be found, except this time it was far worse.

He wondered what Mal had done to them. He had already said he wouldn't kill them, but the thought crossed his mind every now and again and he worried about them. They were like family to him, he didn't know what he would do without them. At the very least, having them around would mean he wasn't alone with Mal.

One day, he was caught in a violent anxiety attack. Used to, he only seldom had anxiety attacks, usually brought on by personalities that were only half-formed that couldn't control him but would still wail and gnaw at him whenever triggered. After all that had happened though, he had the most attacks he'd had since he was a child and unable to control his alters even slightly. His body convulsed and he couldn't focus on anything. He had already thrown up the little contents in his stomach, and his vision was blurry. He was hyperventilating, and he felt like his brain was splitting in two.

His doctor had upped his drug dosage to combat the attacks, but the medication had little effect. It was the middle of the night, so his psychiatrist wasn't there to offer any support. The best he could hope for was that one of the guards would take pity on him and give him a sedative, but they were only permitted to do so if he posed a threat to others or himself, and for the moment, he didn't.

Mike drifted in and out of awareness, and he had no idea which personality was doing this to him, but he was quite certain it wasn't Mal. Mal was quietly watching in amusement off to the side. He could hear the voices of the half-formed alters screaming and wailing at him, pounding on the inside of his head, demanding to know why he had created them just to suffer for him. They weren't the only cause of these attacks, but they were the main cause.

Normally, he had Zoey to help him, to comfort him and bring him back. He had almost forgotten the dark times before, when he had no one to help him. His parents did what they could, but they didn't have Zoey's magic touch. Sometimes, she would bring in Noel to help too. His episodes would last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, but with Zoey and Noel there to keep him grounded, the attacks didn't last so long. Without them, it could take days to recover. It was why he was unable to stop one of his personas from taking hold.

It was one of the halfling alters, and it had found its way to the forefront of his mind and taken over. Mike was only half-aware it even existed. The half-formed alters were alternate personalities that were only half-formed in Mike's subconscious when he was a child. There were several like this, but they all lived in the darkest corners of his mind, away from his main alters. They were so weak that they very rarely could take control, let alone do much once they were in charge. This personality had no name, gender, or sense of identity, it just new that it existed, and it wanted to be in control for good. The problem was, there were many concepts that it could not grasp. The half-formed alters had a permanent child mentality, and could never be taught.

The halfling stood to its feet. It pressed its face against the glass and said to the guard standing by, "Do you have a gun?"

The guard at first ignored him, but the halfling kept asking over and over until the guard became annoyed. He looked at the prisoner and saw his whole body twitching and quivering. He was holding himself at an odd angle, and he had a wild, manic look in his eyes. His voice sounded different, higher-pitched and raspy, and so he realized this must be one of his alternate personalities. He had been warned of all of them, but this one didn't match the description of any of the alters in his file.

"I do have a gun," he replied. He tried to not be unsettled by the way he was looking at him.

"Will you shoot me?"

"Excuse me?"

"I think one good shot to the head will do it. How is your aim? We might need two."

"You're suicidal? I'll be sure to tell your psychiatrist when he arrives tomorrow, he can prescribe medication for that."

"No, no, no! You don't understand, you imbecile! I don't want to die!"

The guard's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What do you think will happen if I shoot you in the head?"

"The bullet will kill my host, what's his name? Mitch? Mickey? Michael! That's it! If you shoot me, he'll die, and so will the others in his mind, and I'll have full control of the body. So go ahead, shoot me!"

The guard was completely creeped out now, but at the same time he felt some measure of pity for this alter. "I'm sorry, but it doesn't work that way. Me shooting you would kill you too, not just Mike."

"Liar! You just don't want me in control, you think he should be in control! All he ever did was hurt me, and now I want him gone! Gone, gone, gone!"

The guard didn't see how he could possibly help him, so he moved so that the alter couldn't see him anymore. He felt guilty about it, but he didn't see any hope for any of his charges. Especially ones like this.

"No! Come back! Let me out of here! I don't belong in here, the scary one is the one who did the bad thing! He killed Michael's baby, not me! I'm innocent! I didn't do anything! Make him stay, let me go!"

The alter went from anger to panic. He pounded his fists on the glass to try to escape, but of course nothing happened.

"Please let me out, I'm scared!" it pleaded. "I can't take this, I don't want to go back inside! The scary one will hurt me again, get me away from him! Help me, please!"

The alter lost the energy to stay in control, and so Mike was able to come back. He had no idea of what had just taken place, but he was still right in the middle of the anxiety attack, as though there had been no interruption. He collapsed to his knees, he couldn't move. All he could think was that he wanted to die, to be free from all this. No, he wished he'd never been born. None of this ever would have happened if he had never existed in the first place.

* * *

When Zoey came to see him, she felt bad for not coming to see him more often, but that was the most she could cope with. It killed her to see Mike locked up, and as much as she hated herself for it, now when she looked at him, she couldn't help but see Mal, as if he were hiding behind his eyes. When she saw Mal, she couldn't stop herself from imagining all the things he must have done to Noel, and what he could do to her unborn children. She wished she could be braver, stronger, but she couldn't. She was disgusted with herself for it, it made her feel weak and selfish. Mike needed a wife who could be with him every step of the way and feel no fear when she looked at him. She was trying, but it was so very difficult.

No reporters had bothered her in some time, thanks to Fitzgerald. She'd been contacted by several publishers, urging her to write about her experiences with Mike and about what had happened to Noel. She had even been offered a movie deal about it, and even though accepting any of those offers would have made her wealthy, she turned every one of them down.

She signed in at the front desk and a guard took her to Mike's cell. She was given a fold-up chair to sit in outside the glass separating them.

He was lying in bed on his side, but he wasn't sleeping. He was staring into space; looking at the wall, but not seeing it.

Zoey cleared her throat. "Mike."

He immediately sat up at the sound of her voice and his face lit up a little. Even though he had healed months ago from when she had attacked him, he looked worse now than he had then, worse than she had ever seen him. His eyes were bloodshot and had dark shadows under them, they looked empty and haunted. His hair was wild and unkempt, it had grown out more and it hung around his gaunt face. He looked sickly, haggard and frail, she wondered how often he was eating, and the last time he'd slept. Her heart broke for him, she wanted to get inside his cell and hold him. She wanted so desperately to help him, but she didn't know how.

"Zoey, I'm so glad to see you."

"I'm so sorry I haven't been here more, it's just that…"

"You're scared."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, anyone would be scared after something like this. You're here now, that's what matters. I don't expect you to be Wonder Woman and hold my hand all the time, or to not feel anything. You're only human, and humans have limits to what they can bear. Just the fact that you're here at all is good enough for me. I'm sure everyone on the outside expects you to leave and never see me again. You haven't abandoned me, and that means everything to me."

Zoey still felt bad about not being here more, but she kept it to herself. She proceeded to tell him about all that was going on in the outside world since he no longer had any connection to it. She told him news about their friends and about current events. He was barely listening though; the only thing he could focus on was her round stomach.

After a while of talking, she quit beating around the bush. "I have some good news. I had an ultrasound a few days ago, and the doctor told me the gender of the twins. They're boys, just like you wanted. We're going to have twin sons."

Mike didn't say what he was thinking out loud, that _she_ was having boys, not him. He wasn't having any part in their lives, they were to be kept as far from him as possible.

He forced a smile and said, "That's wonderful."

"They're both healthy and doing well, I'm due at the beginning of September."

"That's good to hear."

There was a long silence. Used to, they could spend hours talking and never run out of things to say, but things were different now.

Finally, Zoey couldn't take it anymore. "We were supposed to be happy, Mike."

"We were happy. Not anymore," he said bitterly.

"I want our old life back," she said as tears began to leave streaks down her face. "I want us to play with Noel and watch her grow up. I want to hug her before she goes to school, and listen to her tell me about her day. I want you to go to the doctor with me to see the babies on the ultrasound, help me pick out pairs of tiny blue baby clothes, and joke about ridiculous baby names. I want you to take me on dates like you used to, where something would go wrong and you thought everything was ruined, but it didn't matter because we were together. I want to stand in the door and listen to you tell Noel bedtime stories, I want to watch you dance with your baby girl. I want you to hold me like you used to and sing to me. I want to hold Noel in my arms again, I want her to come home. I want you to come back home. I'd give anything to have our lives back."

Mike looked away. He was so sad, so drained, he couldn't even cry. "Noel isn't coming home, she's not ever coming back home. She's dead Zoey, I killed her, end of story. I need you to keep the twins away from me, I won't hurt them too. Don't even tell them about me, I don't want them to live with the shame of having a freak and a murderer for a father."

"You didn't kill her! It was Mal, not you! You cannot blame yourself for this!"

"Who else is there to blame?! Mike, Mal, there was no difference to her! I know I wasn't in control and there was nothing I could do, but Noel couldn't have known that! When she looked at Mal, she saw my face. She didn't know there was something wrong with me, she thought I played other characters on purpose, she thought it was a game. As she was dying, all she knew was that it was daddy doing this to her, and she never knew why. Imagine how scared she must have been, imagine how she must have cried and screamed. She thought daddy loved her, and yet he stabbed her with a knife and let her bleed to death. Her last memory was of daddy breaking every promise he ever made her, and on her birthday, no less. Who would have thought that on the seventh anniversary of the day I first held her that I would lose her forever?"

The worst part of all this was Zoey couldn't truthfully deny any of it. She had already thought of all this. To Noel, Mike and his personalities were all one in the same, because she didn't know any better. Whatever Mal did to her that day, all she would have seen was Mike. Zoey still refused to believe she was dead, but even if she was alive, how terrible to live with the knowledge that a person you loved and loved you back would do such an awful thing to you.

"At this point, I'm no better than my own mother and father."

Zoey knew he wasn't talking about Jack and Holly, and this was one thing she could deny. "After all that horrible man did to you, he never earned the right to be called your father. Don't you go comparing yourself to him, you are nothing like him. The same goes for your birth mother. She might have had schizophrenia, but that does not excuse what she did to you. You're sweet and kind and gentle and loving, they went out of their way to make your life a living hell."

"But it's like I said before, Noel didn't know I wasn't in control when it happened. It might as well have been me. I put her through the pain and terror that I went through when I was a kid. I never wanted what I went through to spread to my own children, but it happened and I couldn't do a damn thing. But it was worse for her. My mother killed my little brother and sister, for no reason at all. She didn't want them to take Jake away, and she just got tired of Lizzie. But it wasn't really her, was it? It was her mental illness that really killed them, just like mine killed Noel. And my biological father lived off my pain and fear, but he never took it too far. I mean, he never actually tried to kill me. But I outdid him. I killed Noel. Don't you see, Zoey? If I hadn't created all those alternate personalities, Mal never would have existed, he never could have gotten his hands on her!"

"If you hadn't created all those personalities, you probably wouldn't be functioning well enough to have a wife or child, or a life at all. They were your only escape, it was the only way you could stay sane. It wasn't an ideal solution, but it was the lesser of evils."

"The lesser of evils? How is Mal the lesser of evils?"

"Mike please-"

"Zoey, don't. I can't control Mal at all anymore. The only reason I'm having this conversation is because he's allowing it. He could take over at any time and say whatever he wants, but he's letting me talk to you because he thinks we're pathetic and it amuses him. He's been talking about you this entire time, saying things I won't repeat. And you can't even imagine the things he says about Noel. No, I won't put my sons' lives in danger, I will not make the same mistake again."

Zoey put her hand on the glass, and Mike did the same. This woman was so much more to him than just his wife. She was his anchor when he got lost in the depths of his mind. She was his shoulder to cry on his worst days, and she could always make him smile. She was his soulmate, she was his whole life, his everything. She was all that to him, and yet this was the closest he would ever come to having physical contact with her ever again.

"I still believe in you, even if you won't believe in yourself," she whispered.

"How can you still have faith in me? It doesn't make any sense."

"That's what marriage is, love. For better or worse. I know there are people out there who think I'm stupid to stick by you during all this, but it's what I signed up for, and I won't run just because things are harder than they've ever been. Maybe one day my faith will be rewarded, but even if it never is, I'll keep fighting by your side until the very end."

Zoey got up to leave. On her way out, she unexpectedly ran into Dawn and B.

"Dawn, B, what are you doing here?"

Dawn put a hand on Zoey's stomach. "Oh Zoey, your son's auras are so beautiful, they're positively glowing." She pointed to one side of her stomach. "This one will be free-spirited and mischievous." She pointed to the other side. "This one will be thoughtful and quiet, and will likely be dragged along on the other's antics. Both will be intelligent and kindhearted, like their father. It's always wonderful to see the bright, shining auras of infants, in the darkest of times they are sometimes the only light to be found."

Zoey, thoroughly creeped out, stared at her and said, "How can you possibly know all that?"

"It's never too early to see into a person's aura, but yours is full of sorrow and misery, as one would expect in these times. I'm glad to see you still have hope, it's your lifeline."

"Dawn, not to be rude, but why are you here?"

"I've come to help. I read in the tealeaves that you would be visiting Mike today, and so I decided this would the perfect time to get started."

"Get started on what?"

"Mike, of course. I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner, but those poor animals from Wawanakwa needed me after everything Chris did to them, including sinking their home. B and I have been treating them physically, mentally, and emotionally for the past several months now. B really connects with them in a way even I haven't. DJ has been helping as well, he really has a way with animals," she said dreamily. "At least, he has been when he's not been busy. He's a therapist now, have you heard? Anyway, I'm taking a short leave to help you and Mike, free of charge. The only thing I ask of you is that you don't visit Mike anymore. He has only an hour each day for visitors, and I'm going to need every second to train him to defend his mind. I hope you don't mind. Everything is going to be okay Zoey, I promise."

Zoey was speechless. Dawn didn't wait for a reply and she and B went past her to see Mike. Zoey started to ask her what on earth she was talking about, but then thought better of it. Even if Dawn did elaborate, chances were she still wouldn't have a clue as to what she was talking about.


	6. Chapter 6

Zoey was running through the forest as fast as she could as Mal chased her through the trees. She could hear his maniacal laughter echoing through the woods as he relentlessly pursued her.

She tripped on a root sticking up above the ground and she fell flat on her face. Mal caught her and stuck a knife in her stomach, killing her unborn baby boys. She wailed and screamed on the forest floor as he laughed at her, until he finally ended her misery by sinking the blade into her heart. He continued to laugh as her blood dripped from his face.

Zoey sat straight up in Noel's bed, screaming and in a cold sweat. She heard Cameron run up the stairs and he burst through the door.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Cam," she said breathlessly. "Just another nightmare."

That's what he had expected, she had nightmares nearly every night, but he had to check, just to be safe. "Okay good, I guess. I'll let you get back to sleep then."

He shut the door and went back down the stairs. Zoey glanced around Noel's room for a moment, at her dolls and her drawings on the walls, untouched since the incident. Ever since that first night at the police station, she had been sleeping in Noel's room. Without Mike to share it with her, her bed was too big and too lonely for her to ever get any sleep in. Sleeping on Noel's pillow, she thought she could almost smell the sweet scent of her hair.

Zoey pulled the covers over her head. She could feel the twins moving around inside her, kicking her stomach as if trying to win a race.

"Don't you two ever sleep?" she asked, but in truth, it was very comforting to feel them move and know they were alive and well where no one could hurt them.

She knew there was no way she would be doing any more sleeping tonight, and she was tempted to take a sleeping pill, but that would hurt the twins, so she spent the rest of the night trying to forget Mal's face in her nightmare.

* * *

"Breathe in and breathe out. Focus on each breath and forget everything else around you."

"How can I forget everything around me with you talking about it?"

Dawn was not offended by Mike's sarcasm; she could see all the pain and loss in his aura that was making him say things he normally wouldn't. It was hard for her to read his aura because the pain was so strong she could almost feel it herself. The only thing stronger than the pain in his aura was Mal.

They were both in the lotus position, per Dawn's instructions. Mike thought it was a waste of time and silly, and for the first three days refused to do any meditating. But Dawn came everyday anyway, and he finally let her show him how to meditate. It's not like he had anything better to do anyway.

Off to the side, B was sitting on the floor reading a book. He had been accompanying Dawn to all their sessions together, in case Mal escaped and tried to hurt her. B still never spoke a word, but Dawn said he didn't need to talk if he didn't want to, because his aura spoke louder than words ever could.

"This feels tedious to you, that's normal. It takes time for meditation to work, longer for some than others. You'll get there Mike, and you're already doing well."

"I'm sorry, I just don't want you to waste your time on me."

"Time spent helping others is never wasted. This will all be worth it when you've successfully taken back your mind."

"I don't feel any different. This still feels pointless."

"I promise you that it isn't. This is going to give you your power back over the Malevolent One."

"Even if I could control Mal, what good would it do? It won't bring Noel back from the dead, and I'll still be locked up in here."

"You're surrounded by a great darkness, but that darkness is beginning to fade. I've seen glimpses of things to come, and I can safely tell you that things aren't as bleak as they seem. Now close your eyes and focus on your breathing and the rhythm of your heart."

"_This girl is loonier than you, Mike. We could be bunkmates; braid each other's hair, and howl at the moon together."_

Mike ignored Mal and did as Dawn instructed. He concentrated on his heartbeat and breathing, and tried to forget where he was. He really didn't understand meditation at all, so he had no idea what he was doing.

"Are you relaxed yet?" asked Dawn.

"About as relaxed as I can be."

"Good. Now, look within yourself and find your center. You're going to go deep within your mind, and it's important that you are connected to your center so that you don't lose yourself. Your center will also give you strength when you need it most."

"_I've seen your center Mike, it's just marshmallow."_

"I don't know what you mean by 'center.'"

"There is no one definition of a person's center, it's different for everyone. The means of finding it also varies from person to person, because no two souls are exactly alike. Based on what I've seen in your aura, you base your self-knowledge and your self-worth on your loved ones, particularly Zoey since she's the one who gave you the strength to fight Mal the last time. You need to concentrate on her and let her be your connection to the real world when you go within yourself."

"What you're basically saying is I need to think of her when I'm meditating?"

"Close enough. But don't let her be at the forefront of your mind, or she'll be a distraction and you'll get nowhere. Keep her at the back of your mind, so that she's there but you can still concentrate on what you need to do to rid yourself of the darkness in your aura."

"You honestly think I can beat Mal?"

"_If you believe in yourself, and with a tiny pinch of magic, all your dreams will come true!" _said Mal in a high-pitched voice.

"With me as your guide, there's no way you can fail. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be able to control your dreams."

"I don't remember most of my dreams. I don't even sleep anymore, Mal doesn't let me."

"_Sleep is overrated, quality time with me is a much better use of time."_

"I don't have to read your aura to see that. But would you like to control what happens in your dreams?"

"Not really, I'm good."

"Then we'll skip that lesson."

* * *

Over the next three months, Dawn took up every second of Mike's visiting hours teaching him to meditate and go within his mind. A month of that showed no results, but at the beginning of the second month, he finally began showing signs that her teaching was working.

Mike was able to leave his body and go within his mind to face Mal and start putting up mental barriers against him. Mal was stronger though and he broke through each one with ease. But it was something, and it made Mike almost hopeful again.

"When will I be able to get rid of him for good?" he asked her one day.

"You won't ever be able to get rid of him for good, but I estimate that within a year or two, you should be able to keep him from coming back."

"A year or two? It'll take that long?"

"It's just an estimate, but better a year or two than going the rest of your life with him always on your shoulder," she replied simply.

"Yeah, yeah you're right. Let's start again, I want to see how long I can hold him before he gets loose again."

"Visiting hour is over, and you have good news coming anyway," said Dawn mysteriously.

He heard footsteps coming from down the hall and he looked to see who was coming. When he turned back, Dawn was gone, and so was B.

"I hate it when she does that," he muttered.

The warden came and stood before his cell.

"Your wife gave birth to twin boys yesterday, and they're all healthy and will be going home soon." He said all this in a monotone, as though the miracle of life was the most boring thing imaginable.

"Yesterday? Why didn't anyone tell me sooner?"

"I told you now, that's what matters."

"What are their names?"

"I didn't ask."

"Can I see them? Just once?"

"Children under the age of sixteen are not permitted in this facility."

"Can someone at least bring me a picture so I know what they look like?"

"We'll see what we can do."

The warden walked away, leaving Mike to try to envision what his newborn sons looked like. He wondered if they had inherited Zoey's red hair, like Noel, or if they had his dark brown, sticky-upy hair. He tried to imagine what they would be like as they grew older. Maybe they would go out for sports and fill the house with trophies. Or maybe they would be musical and play in great concert halls. Maybe they would one day discover the cure to cancer, or set foot on the moon.

"_Stop it Mike, you're breaking my heart. Your hopes and dreams for your boys are just precious. It's too bad they're unlikely to ever accomplish anything outside of having their dad win the craziest father of the year award."_

"Go away Mal."

"_Go where? We share the same brain, it's not like I can just pack my bags and hit the road. Besides, you used to like having me around, remember? Way back when it was just you and me against the world. Why can't we go back to that? Why can't we be friends, Mike?"_

Mike didn't dignify that with an answer. Just then, an orderly came by with his dinner and slid it through the tiny slot. It was a waffle with a whipped cream smiley face.

"Waffles for dinner?"

"_Waffles for dinner?"_ said Mal, imitating him in a high voice. He took control of Mike's body so he could fully enjoy the waffles, but he let Mike watch. He wasn't allowed any utensils, not even plastic ones, so he had to use his hands. "Don't be such a stick in the mud. It was my idea, I always liked waffles better at dinnertime than in the morning. I took a short trip outside and altered the food schedule when you weren't looking."

It wasn't unusual for Mal to take over during mealtimes. Mike didn't have any motivation to eat, so Mal made sure he ate just enough to keep his body functioning. He wasn't about to let Mike starve himself, because how boring would that be?

"_You got out? Why didn't you escape?"_

"Because if I did, I wouldn't get to enjoy the waffles, duh. Come on Mike, use your brain. I know you have one, we share it."

With a bite of waffle in his mouth, he said, "Do you even know why you like waffles? Because Mommy, your real Mommy, only made them on days when she was in a good mood, and so when you'd smell the waffles cooking, you knew she wouldn't be locking you in the closet and you'd have a good day. That didn't stop the bullies from beating you up when you went out to play, or Daddy when he was home, but it's the thought that counts."

Mal swallowed and then went off on a tangent, letting his thoughts carry him. "I won't lie to you Mike, I was kind of hoping they'd give us the death penalty, even though they don't do that here for some reason. Wouldn't it be cool if they put us in the electric chair? When we die, I want to go out on a high, you know? If there's no explosions I'll be very disappointed. But they'd probably just give us that stuff that stops your heart and you go to sleep, and where's the fun in that? A hanging would be more exciting than that. A firing squad would be cool, or a guillotine, now that would be awesome. Just imagine some poor sap having to pick your head up off the ground, and you probably wouldn't even be dead yet and you could wink at them. But I always try to look at the bright side of things. Being locked up forever means we'll always have each other, like BFFS. And Mike, I know you're scared of dying like most people, so I just want you to know that if they did give us the death penalty, I'd take over for you and you wouldn't have to feel a thing. You'd never even know you were dead, it would be just like old times. And you'd be with sweet little Noel again, but I doubt she'd forgive you."

Mal stopped talking, and instead began whistling _The First Noel_. Mike tried using the techniques Dawn had taught him, but they weren't working. Mal was unstoppable, unbeatable, and he'd been a fool to think that he could have any power over him.

* * *

Zoey sat in a hospital bed as a nurse gently bathed her sons. One of them cried out and, not about to be outdone, the other joined in and cried even louder.

The nurse finished and handed the boys back to Zoey. "They sound hungry. Better feed 'em, mama."

Zoey breastfed them and they soon fell fast asleep in her arms. They were both so handsome, and they both had full heads of hair, just like Noel when she was born. She could already see that they had Mike's best features.

Gwen had come to see her, and she was in the cafeteria having lunch. She was planning to stay for a few days to help Zoey get settled with the twins. That meant Trent and Tom were home alone with the baby, and Gwen had already said she expected her house to be a complete wreck when she got home. Leshawna had sent her five boxes of baby clothes and other baby accessories once she found out the gender of the babies, so Zoey wouldn't have to worry about shopping for a while.

Cameron had stayed up in the waiting room, refusing to rest until she delivered, and so he was now snoring right along with the twins in the chair by the bed. She was exhausted too, but she couldn't sleep now. She wouldn't let her nightmares get in the way of this little happiness with her boys. She couldn't help but think of when Noel was born, and when she had held her for the first time. She remembered Mike's face when he saw his daughter for the first time, how he looked like the happiest man alive. He would be so proud of his boys, she thought.

Even though she felt overwhelming joy at the feeling of her sons in her arms, she also felt anger and frustration that Mike and Noel couldn't be here to welcome little Jack and Riley into the world with her. Since Mike wasn't here to help her choose names for them, she had decided to go with her father's name and Mike's father's name. Mike should have been there to hold her hand during the delivery, and Noel should be holding her little brothers. She had already been informed that she couldn't bring them in to see Mike, so how was he supposed to meet his boys now? It was a cruel twist of irony; he had told her he wasn't having any part in their lives, and now he couldn't. Why was life so unfair?

Her parents and Mike's parents were on their way to see the boys, and they would be there in a few hours. She hoped no arguments broke out. Ever since the incident, a rift had formed between their parents. Hers blamed Mike for what had happened, and they couldn't stand being in the same room as Jack and Holly. She hoped the new grandkids could help resolve some of the conflict and tension.

For the moment though, her biggest concern was this: how was she going to raise twins by herself? Raising one kid was a challenge in itself, but two at once? She would have Cameron to help her, who still worried about her but now stayed in a motel instead of her couch, but it wasn't the same as Mike. He deserved to share in this joy, but he had been robbed of that right.

It just wasn't fair.

* * *

Every night, Mal kept Mike from sleeping. Mike was cripplingly exhausted, but no matter how tired he was, sleep never found him.

Mal spent most of the time rambling about whatever thought happened to be whizzing around in his mind at that particular moment, but sometimes he felt like serenading Mike with his favorite songs, and they were all from musicals or movies with musical numbers. He was currently singing songs from _Sweeney Todd_.

"_And though I'll think of you, I guess,  
_

_Until the day I die.  
_

_I think I miss you less and less,  
_

_As every day goes by, Johanna."_

"Why are you singing that song? I mean sure, Sweeney was murdering people while he was singing it, but this is a bit heartfelt for your taste, isn't it? You don't care about anyone like that," said Mike as he lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. In the early days, he had tried to tune out his singing, but it was a lost cause. It was impossible for him to sleep with it going on, and so he had accepted defeat long ago.

"_So I can only like a song if I can relate to it? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I mean, come on, do you really think I can relate to Pink Elephants on Parade? That's one of my favorites. Not all my favorite songs are about death and bloodshed, you know. Most, but not all. I like the melody of the song, it's very soothing, and it made me think of you, actually. You and Noel. You should be singing this one along with me."_

He continued the song, but he replaced Joanna's name with Noel.

"_If only angels could prevail,  
_

_We'd be the way we were, Noel._

_Wake up, Noel,  
_

_Another bright red day.  
_

_We learn Noel,  
_

_To say… _

_Goodbye."_

* * *

Dawn's lessons went very well, until one day when Mal got bored and decided to have some fun.

"Well done, Mike. That's the longest you've kept Mal away, you're improving quickly."

"But I still can't keep him away for good. I'm starting to think this is all just pointless."

Dawn could tell by his aura that he was thinking this way because of something Mal had said to him, but she didn't know what.

"Mike, don't you see that Mal is not the one holding you back here? It's you. When we first met on Total Drama, I could already see Mal in your aura, but he was weak then. When you defeated him in All Stars, he was the weakest I had ever see him. But looking at your aura now, it practically belongs to Mal, and the infection is only getting worse, it's spreading like a disease. Do you get what I'm saying here? All his power is coming from you. You decide how much power he has, not him. You stopped fighting him, and now he's destroying your life piece by piece. Since we've started these sessions, your part in your aura has grown some, but it is still weak. If you would rise up and fight, really fight, instead of going through the motions like you are now, you could beat him. You're letting your fear, guilt, and anguish keep you imprisoned in your own mind, and if you don't stop him, there will come a day when you won't have any power in your mind at all, and he'll become the dominate personality. Don't let it come to that, Mike! You're stronger than him, but you refuse to believe it. You won't ever be able to defeat Mal if you don't start believing you can."

Mike gasped, and Mal took over. B realized what was going on and rushed to Dawn's side in case he tried anything. This was the first time either one had seen Mal in person.

Mal clapped and said, "I want to commend you on your efforts to help Mike. You've given him more hope in this dark time in his life than anyone else, even Zoey. Bravo, Dawn."

Dawn didn't get angry often, but she was going to give Mal a piece of her mind. "I can see in your aura all the abuse and neglect you suffered from both Mike's parents on his behalf. You used to care about him, you used to try to keep him safe in any way you could, but you let all that pain, fear and darkness twist you into something barely human. You took all the pain and fear that went into you and gave it to Noel, but not for revenge or anything sensible. You did it for kicks, and you're going to pay for it, one way or another."

"Do you really believe Mike can defeat me?"

"Yes, I do. But even if he can't, at least it means you'll spend the rest of your life behind the glass, and you won't ever leave this place."

"Aw, but don't you see? I like it here. Just like juvie, this place is a home away from home. This is a vacation, and I'm getting a lot of R&R. I might break out of here once my retreat is over, or I might make it a permanent vacation. I haven't really decided yet, both are equally appealing options. Either way though, I'll always have Mike by my side to keep me company."

"Let him go, Mal," said B. Hearing him speak took them both by surprise.

"So that's what your voice sounds like," said Dawn. "It sounds nice."

She turned back to Mal and said, "He won't ever let him go. I can see that there is a part of yourself that you try to hide, but I can't make out what it is because you've gone to such measures to get rid of it. You've been lying about it for so long you almost believe it yourself. Whatever it is, it kills you, and you've spent your life running from it. You desperately try to cover it up, you've tried to forget it but you can't.

"I can see you for what you really are Mal, you're a child. A lost, hurting, frightened child that tried to fight a battle that was never his, and lost. It made you into what you are now. I believe everyone deserves a second chance, but you used yours up already. Mal won't ever change, he let himself be consumed by the darkness long ago. He has no chance, but Mike does."

Mal winked at her, and with no warning whatsoever, he reared back his head and smashed his face into the glass that separated them. No harm was done to the glass, but Mal's nose was now bleeding, and it was obvious he was going to have two black eyes.

"What are you doing?!" asked Dawn as B moved in front of her to shield her.

"Remember that hope I told you about earlier you gave Mike? I'm killing it."

He went over to the toilet and got down on his knees. He grabbed the rim and started ramming his chest against the metal, over and over again.

"I don't understand, why are you doing this?" said Dawn, horrified by the scene before her. This was her friend he was hurting!

Mal stood up, and though it was clear he was in pain, he grinned wickedly at her. The pain had no power over him whatsoever.

"When I let Mike back in, I'm going to tell him that I escaped and tried to kill you," said Mal as he began raking his fingernails up the skin of his arms, drawing blood and leaving long scratches. "B had no choice but to defend you, but I fought back, and there was a struggle. I almost made it to Dawn, but she clawed me and B beat me to a pulp."

"Stop it! Stop it right now or I'll call the guards!"

"If you do, I'll let Mike back early, and all he'll know is that he had to be physically restrained. It'll only reaffirm what I'm going to tell him."

He reached up and took his left arm and pulled so hard that he dislocated his own shoulder. He let out a hiss of pain, but then he laughed.

"B was a little rough getting me back in my cell, but at least he managed to contain me enough that the guards didn't have to tranquilize me. He didn't break any bones, which is good because broken bones are annoying. It was very considerate of him."

"Do you really think I'll go along with this? I'll tell him the truth, we both will!"

"Go right ahead, but who do you think he's going to believe? His friends, or the demon on his shoulder? He'll think you're trying to play the situation off, make it not a big deal to keep from hurting him because he wasn't in control at the time. He already hates himself, and he expects things like this to happen. But now he won't trust himself at all around you, let alone his own family. He won't let anyone come near him, he'll isolate himself completely. It's so easy it shouldn't be funny, but it is hilarious."

"You're insane!"

"Now Dawn, flattery will get you nowhere."

Mal let Mike take back the wheel. He immediately let out a cry of pain and clutched his arm. His chest hurt so much it made breathing difficult, and he could feel the blood dripping down his chin.

"What happened?" he gasped. He cringed and leaned against the glass for support.

Dawn told him everything that had happened when Mal was in control, how he had hurt himself to make it look like he had escaped. Mal bragged about how he had broken out and tried to kill his friends, and how close he came to being successful. He told Mike that Dawn was lying to him to protect him, and just as he had predicted, Mike believed him instead of Dawn.

"Mike, I promise you I'm telling the truth! After everything Mal has done to you, you trust him more than you trust me?" Tears were running down her face. She hated seeing any living thing in pain, especially when she considered that living thing to be a friend.

Mike didn't say anything. It's not that he trusted Mal, but after having him in his head for so long, his voice was hard to ignore. After being locked up in the asylum alone for so long, Mal was his one and only constant. It wasn't comforting, it was misery. He listened to Mal, because he couldn't bear the thought of him hurting her after she had gone out of her way to try to help him. If he could escape from his cell and change the food schedule without getting caught, he could easily break out and kill Dawn, or Cameron or Zoey. He had to put a stop to this in the only way he could before it was too late. He couldn't save Noel, but he could save them.

Visiting hour ended, and Dawn and B were forced to leave. As they did, Mal took over again momentarily just to laugh at them. It sent chills down their spines.

* * *

A week after Zoey brought the twins home for the first time, she went to visit Mike.

Dawn had called to tell her that he wouldn't let her see him anymore. She said she could visit him now anytime she wanted, and she hoped she would try to talk him into continuing their lessons, because she didn't want them to lose all their progress. Zoey promised she would ask him about it, but she wouldn't force him into it. The whole thing was just bizarre to her.

She went to the front desk to check in.

"Zoey Skinner, I'm here to see Mike Skinner."

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Skinner has requested no visitors indefinitely."

"I'm his wife, he'll see me."

"He specifically requested we not allow you in."

"Why would he do that?"

"It's not our business to ask. If a patient doesn't feel up to having visitors, then we don't force them on them. Time alone can be therapeutic, you see."

"Being alone is the last thing Mike needs. I'll just be a minute, he'll be happy to see me."

"It is our policy to respect our patient's wishes. I am very sorry, but you are not permitted to visit him."

"You don't understand, I need to see him. I brought him pictures of our newborn baby boys, he can't see them in person, so these pictures will be all he gets."

"If you leave them with me, I'll be sure he gets them."

"No, I'll give them to him myself." Zoey marched right past him down the corridor to where Mike was being kept. Just when she was almost there, when she could see his cell, two guards came and forced her away.

"No! You don't understand, Mike needs me! Mike!"

They forced her to leave and they shut the door in her face. She covered her face and cried, and the pictures fell to the ground at her feet.

"Who's going to protect him from Mal now?" she asked herself. "Why are you doing this, Mike? Why won't you let me help you? Now you have no one."


	7. Chapter 7

Three more months passed, and it was now December.

Winter break wouldn't start for another few days, so Zoey was still teaching. She spent most of her time now at home, caring for the twins, but she still had to work, and so during school days Cameron or Gwen would babysit, usually Cameron.

He didn't really think he was cut out for babysitting. Zoey had offered to hire a sitter, but he had insisted, even if he wasn't completely sure of his childcare abilities. He didn't want total strangers watching them, and he liked taking care of them, anyway. He spent most of the time reading books to them about thermonuclear astrophysics and teaching them about different bacteria, just like he used to do with Noel. The boys were happy most of the time and although they were a handful and he always left exhausted, he loved being uncle Cameron.

He felt guilty about it, though. Every second he spent with them was a second that he was stealing from Mike. They were Mike's children, but they would never know him. He wished he could do something, but there was nothing he could do. He was powerless to help his friend when he needed him most. If he was so smart, why couldn't he come up with a way to save him? It made him feel worthless. That was why he needed to help Zoey as much as he could, to make up for being a lousy friend to Mike. He couldn't forget the way he had yelled at him, it made him feel terrible, but he believed he deserved it. If he couldn't help his best friend, what kind of friend was he?

* * *

One night, the twins woke up Zoey in the middle of the night. When she went to check on them, she found that they weren't hungry and their diapers were dry; they were just awake and they wanted her to be awake with them.

They wouldn't go back to sleep, and now Zoey was wide awake as well. She took the boys downstairs and looked for something to watch on TV, but there was nothing on but infomercials. One station reported that Chris and Blaineley were once again an item, even though they had broken up and gotten back together enough times to set a world record. In the picture they showed of the couple together, Chef was in the background as their chauffeur, rolling his eyes. She turned off the television, and her eyes landed on the scrapbook in the bookcase against the wall, the scrapbook she hadn't cracked open since before Noel disappeared.

"You guys want to meet your sister and daddy?" she asked, and they gurgled and cooed in response.

This was the first of many scrapbooks she had made over the years. It started at the beginning when she first met Mike on Total Drama. She held the boys in her lap and opened the book. She showed them the different pictures taken of their time together on the island, before she knew about his disorder and it almost ruined their relationship.

"When I auditioned for the show, I never expected to meet the love of my life there. I also sustained more injuries there than anywhere else in my life, but I think it was worth it."

She finished that scrapbook and moved onto the next, which was of their time dating outside the show. Most of these pictures were taken by Holly when they weren't looking. Pictures of Mike holding her, of them laughing together, and her favorite, when they had accidentally fallen asleep together in the hammock on his porch. There was no stress or fear in his eyes, and his smile could light up the room.

She moved onto the next book and flipped through pictures of their wedding and honeymoon while the boys sucked on their thumbs and paid her little attention. She then got to the pictures of Noel as a baby on up to when she was six.

"Here's your daddy teaching Noel to ride a bike, here we are at the carnival, and our first fishing trip with her at the lake by my old house. And look, here's your sister at summer camp last year. That's where she met her best friend, Alejito."

She and Mike had been a bit uneasy when they saw the picture of Alejito and Noel together on the dock (mere seconds before his sister pushed them into the lake) but it was really cute, they had to admit. She had forgiven Alejito for what had happened at the memorial; he was just a kid, and he really had cared about Noel.

And then she flipped to Noel's sixth birthday, and her favorite picture in her entire collection of photos. Mike and Noel were attacking each other with cake, and they were both covered in red and green icing. Her man and her baby looked so happy and carefree together, having no idea of what was coming for them just one year later.

Jack and Riley both giggled at the picture, their first laugh. Zoey had never expected to hear laughter in the house again, she'd almost forgotten what laughter sounded like. Maybe this was a sign that life would go on, and she might be okay someday.

Zoey wiped away a tear and said, "You have a silly family, boys."

She had been advised by several people and Mike himself to not tell the boys about their father or sister when they were older. Most people had expected her to divorce Mike and leave him for good, and were surprised when she didn't. A lot of people looked down on her for that and shunned her. Some had even suggested she not tell them about their sister at all, and to just tell them that their father had left before they were born, which in a way would be accurate. She had been tempted to do it, just because it would be easier, but seeing them smile and hearing them laugh at the picture of their father and sister was too much. How could she not tell them about their wonderful family, even if it was in pieces? And Mike and Noel deserved to be remembered, especially by their own family.

"Maybe your daddy and your sister will come home someday to meet you, and maybe they won't. Either way, you're going to know their story."

* * *

Mike wouldn't let Dawn see him anymore, because he was too afraid Mal would do something to her. He wasn't entirely convinced that Mal had been telling him the truth, but he couldn't stop imagining Dawn dead, her blood on his hands. He stopped doing the mental exercises she'd taught him, because he saw no reason to fight a lost battle.

Zoey had tried to visit several times, but Mike wouldn't let her see him anymore. He was too scared that Mal would do something to her, and he preferred loneliness over waking up over her dead body. He was all alone with Mal, and he was beginning to feel his sanity crumble.

Mal was no longer just a voice in his head. The combined sleep deprivation, stress, and depression had manifested in a hallucination of Mal, smiling and waving at him and telling cruel jokes that never left him alone.

He knew perfectly well that Mal hadn't actually escaped his brain and gotten a body of his own, he knew he was just seeing things, but that didn't make it any less horrifying when he'd take a knife and stab whoever happened to be passing by his cell in the neck. The first few times he had cried out a warning, making everyone think he was crazier than they thought, but now he had learned to close his eyes and pretend he couldn't hear the sound of them dying.

Mal wasn't the only hallucination, however. One night, as he was lying in bed trying in vain to sleep, he felt someone crawl into bed with him.

"Can I sleep with you, Daddy?"

He looked and gasped as he saw Noel smiling at him. He was shocked, and it didn't occur to him that she was a hallucination, at least not at first. He threw his arms around her and held her close.

"I missed you so much," he said through tears.

"What do you mean? I never left."

But then he remembered that it was impossible for her to be here.

"You're another hallucination," he said as he pushed her away.

"What's a hallucination?"

"It means you're not really here, I'm seeing things."

"But of course I'm really here!"

"Come here pumpkin," said the Mal hallucination. He picked Noel up and held her. "Daddy's not feeling so well, let's give him some space."

"Get your hands off her!" he yelled. He didn't care if they were hallucinations, he didn't want Mal anywhere near her. "Leave my daughter alone!"

"But you forget Mike," said Mal as Noel put her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest. "I'm her daddy too."

He was prescribed a cocktail of anti-psychotics to take every night, but instead of taking them he hid them in a hole in his mattress.

Two weeks after the hallucinations started, Mike was sitting on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest. He was watching Noel on the floor drawing something with crayons. Mal was sitting next to him with his legs crossed, throwing a rubber ball at the wall and catching it while he whistled _In the Hall of the Mountain King_. Mal stopped whistling and struck up another conversation, but kept throwing the ball.

"Hey Mike, you ever wonder which of us is the real deal? I mean, surely it's occurred to you that you might not be the default personality." He was speaking from inside Mike's head, but to Mike it looked like the hallucination was speaking.

"We've been over this, we settled it on Total Drama," said Mike firmly without looking at him. "I created you, I'm the original."

"But how would you know? You only know that because I gave you the memory, maybe I made it up. Maybe I made _you_ up."

"And why on earth would you do that?"

"To make things more interesting. A villain is only as good as his foe, every dastardly bad guy has to have a hero to fight, otherwise the job gets boring. Maybe I invented you to make things a bit more challenging, and in turn, more fun. It's hilarious and adorable to watch you try to live your life, thinking it belongs to you when it really belongs to me. Sure, you're a pain, but now I'm so glad I created you. I never would have gotten the chance to ruin Zoey and Noel's lives without you, so I pat myself on the back," he said as he patted himself on the back.

"I'm not listening to you anymore."

"Or, here's another theory: maybe I don't even exist."

"What are you talking about?" Mike finally looked at him.

"No, just hear me out on this. What if you only think you have MPD? What if this is the first asylum you were put in when you were a kid, and you only think you left?"

"Where are you going with this? Of course I left, I left and never went back."

"That's what you've tricked yourself into believing." Mal started acting as two doctors. "And this patient here is Michael Wise, our most unfortunate case. He was abused so much as a child that he created a whole other world that he lives in. He's always babbling on about it, he's never talked about anything else."

"What do you mean, he created a whole other world?"

"He believes he escaped our asylum and was adopted by a kind, loving couple. He calls himself Mike Skinner, the last name of the people he thinks are his parents. He also believes he has Dissociative Identity Disorder, he thinks the voices in his head are alternate personalities. He doesn't have DID, he has schizophrenia, like his mother before him. A few years ago, he thought he went on Total Drama-"

"What's Total Drama?"

"A reality game show he invented. Anyway, he thinks he went on the show and fell in love with the girl of his dreams, he calls her Zoey. He also believes they were married and had a daughter called Noel. It seems to make him happy."

"Well, it's unfortunate, but if it makes him happy… I can't imagine what a person would have to go through that the only way they could cope would be to create an entire fantasy world."

"Actually, he has recently shown a glimmer of hope. He believes one of his alternate personalities murdered his daughter. We think this may be his mind's way of waking up and realizing that these delusions aren't real. But even if he does ever overcome his delusions, I doubt he'll ever be able to leave. He's a hopeless case."

"What a pity."

Mike couldn't take this anymore. He really was doubting if he was the real personality, he was doubting the existence of everyone he loved and held dear.

What if Mal really was the dominant personality, and he had just been letting him believe he'd been the one in control all these years for his own amusement? Or what if he was so insane he had created people for him to love and to love him back? Here he was, hallucinating one of his alternate personalities and his dead daughter, was it really such a stretch that he had only imagined everything else? The very idea of his parents and his friends and Zoey and Noel only existing in his imagination was crippling. It made him feel sick to his stomach, it made him want to die.

Noel tapped him on the shoulder and handed him her drawing. It was a drawing of him, but he was sitting in a cracked, golden throne, and he was in chains. Mal stood behind him with a crown on his head and an evil grin on his face. If nothing changed, this would be his fate. He would be forever trapped, and Mal would have full control. Mal would take the mind as his own, and Mike would become just an alternate personality.

He couldn't go on like this, it had to end.

He took the pills he had been saving and stuffed them in his mouth. He was certain he had collected enough to finish the job, but before he could swallow them, Mal took over and made him spit them back out.

"_No!"_ yelled Mike.

"I don't think so, Mike." He said as he stomped the pills with his foot, crushing them into powder. He knelt down on the floor and blew the powder away, and then let Mike have control again.

The hallucination dropped the ball; he jumped off the bed and put his hands on Mike's shoulders. He grinned wickedly with a manic glint in his eye and said, "Don't think you're getting out of this that easy. Besides, tonight is not a night for chickening out of life, it's a night to celebrate!"

"Celebrate what?"

"Gasp! Mike doesn't know what day it is? Why, it's only the most important day of the whole year! It's Noel's birthday, and the one-year anniversary of her untimely demise! We need party hats, noisemakers, confetti, the whole shebang."

It dawned on Mike that he was right, it was her birthday. He had lost track of the days in here months ago, but Mal hadn't.

His baby girl had been dead for an entire year now.

"It's okay to feel sad, Mike, don't be ashamed of it," said Mal as he patted him on the back. "We all have our bad days. I know how much you miss our daughter, it's only natural. This hallucination here is nice, but you want the real deal. But I have the remedy, I'll make you feel all better. You haven't heard our daughter's voice in so long, a whole year. You'd give anything to hear her sweet voice again, just one more time, wouldn't you? Well, I'll give you your Christmas gift early."

Suddenly, he heard Noel screaming inside his head. Mike covered his ears to block it out, but it did no good because the sound was coming from inside his own mind. The screaming was so full of pain and terror that it turned his blood to ice. This was what she had sounded like when he was killing her, this was her final cry for help that no one had been around to hear but Mal. It sounded so lost and helpless, he couldn't imagine what Mal must have done to evoke it.

Mal was laughing at him, but he couldn't hear him over the sound of Noel's screaming. It became a wail, the broken, desperate wail of a girl who was being murdered by her own father, and never understanding why.

"Stop it! Stop it!" he screamed, but her voice only grew louder. "Leave me alone, Mal! Please, let me end it! Haven't I suffered enough already? When will you be satisfied? Please, I'm begging you, make it stop, or let me die!"

He tore at his hair and pounded on the glass with his fists. He wanted to run, to find Noel and save her! But he couldn't, it was too late, she was gone and he was trapped behind the glass like a goldfish in a bowl.

He wanted to die, but he couldn't, Mal wouldn't let him. He was trapped in this cage and trapped in his body, a prisoner in his own mind. And he would be for the rest of his life.

Mike curled up on the floor and squeezed his eyes shut. He covered his ears even though it did no good, and his muscles became so rigid he couldn't move even if he wanted to. It was the only way he could hold onto his shattering sanity. He couldn't hear his own howls of grief and agony over Noel's screams, his entire world was engulfed in that terrible sound.

A guard came over to see what was going on and saw Mike having a breakdown. He opened the door and took out a syringe to sedate him so he wouldn't hurt himself, and so he would quit screaming. The night shift sucked enough without psychos like him screaming at nothing. But just as he was about to inject him, Mike suddenly leapt up, grabbed the syringe, and stuck it in the guard's neck. He took his keys and his gun and did backflips out of his cell.

"_Svetlana, what are you doing?"_ asked Mike from inside his mind. He could still hear Noel's screaming, but it wasn't as loud now.

"Getting us out of here! Ve are tired of Mal's sick games, and ve are finally doing something about it!"

Vito took control as they came across a doctor down the hall. He grabbed the doctor and held the gun to his throat.

"Play nice and you'll get out of this alive, capiche?"

By now, other guards had realized what was happening. They pulled their guns, but they couldn't do anything without risking the doctor's life. They let him out of the building, but they weren't about to let him get away. Vito only had minutes to get out before the police showed up.

Mike couldn't believe the others were breaking him out. They had been Mal's prisoners, they had been too afraid of Mal and too beaten down to do anything for months, but now he had pushed them too far and they were fighting back. It hadn't occurred to Mike at first, but they were hearing Noel's screams as loudly as he was. They had been under Mal's control, but hearing her screams had given them the will and strength to fight back, something they hadn't had in a long time.

They were so worked up, memories of their time with Noel seeped into Mike's mind. He saw Svetlana trying to teach her gymnastics before she could even walk. He could feel her pride from when she did her first successful backflip and every time she learned a new move onward. He saw how proud she was when she performed in her first dance recital and when she won her first award.

From Chester, he saw him taking her to a ventriloquist show and playing board games and them both enjoying it. He saw them napping together on the couch when she was a toddler, and when she called him Chester for the first time. He also saw all those days when she would ask him to tell her stories. He was always grumpy with her, but he secretly enjoyed her company. She was the only young person he didn't have a problem with. She didn't get angry or frustrated at him, no matter how cranky he got.

From Manitoba, he got images of him carrying Noel on his back on his expeditions when she was just a baby (with Zoey accompanying them to make sure he didn't do anything too reckless). He had expected Manitoba to want to be rid of her because she would only slow him down, but he brought her with him every chance he got. He let her pet all manner of animals they came across and she loved each one. He could feel the excitement he had felt the first time they found treasure together.

But then he got some of Vito's. His went in an entirely different direction.

The memories Mike saw were of when Noel was a baby and toddler, and how much he'd resented and hated her. He'd tell her to shut up when she would cry, or ignore her entirely. He would push her away when she would try to cling to him or play with him. Back then, to Noel, all the personalities were daddy, and as much as it irked the others to be called daddy (especially Svetlana) they forgave her because they knew she didn't know any better. Vito wasn't so forgiving, and he would sometimes yell at her when she called him that.

"Daddy puppy!" she said one day as she tried to give Vito her stuffed toy dog to play with. He was putting on suntan lotion and was going to sunbathe on the roof. It was a cloudy day, and he figured he would get more sun from there. That, and Noel couldn't follow him up there, which was a major plus.

"Don't call me that! I am not daddy, I am Vito! Vi-to, it's not hard to say!"

"Vito, she doesn't know any better, don't be so hard on her!" Zoey reprimanded him as she scooped Noel up in her arms. Noel reached out to him for him to hold her, but he moved farther away.

"When is she gonna learn that I'm not her father?"

"She's too young understand what's going on, you know that. If you expect her to be able to distinguish between all of you at this age, you're just setting her up for failure. When she sees you, she only sees Mike. Be patient with her, when she's older she'll learn the difference."

"She can't grow up fast enough."

Even if he had wanted to be around her, Zoey wouldn't have let him, because she couldn't trust him with her alone. Vito regretted encouraging Mike to stay, what was he thinking? Noel represented everything he never wanted, and everything he could never have.

But then one night, when Noel was two, Vito came home completely wasted after a night of partying. It had been a long time since he'd drank this much, and so he wasn't handling it as well as he used to. He usually obeyed the rule that he could drink a little but not a lot, but he really didn't care anymore.

When he came into the yard, he found Noel outside, playing in her sandbox and singing gibberish to herself. Mike and Zoey had put into place every childproof lock in existence to keep her inside, but Noel was too smart for her own good. It was the middle of the night, and Zoey was in bed, she had no idea she had escaped again.

Noel saw him and let out a delighted squeal. She ran over to him, not knowing it wasn't her father. She latched onto his leg and held on tight. He could feel her body shivering against him from the cold.

"Daddy!" she said happily. "Daddy home!"

That was the tipping point. He was angry, he was drunk, and he had had enough. He tore her from his leg and smacked her, knocking her down flat on her back. She hit her head on a rock when she fell, not hard enough to do any real damage, but it still hurt very much.

"Stay away from me, brat! I ain't your dad, I never will be your dad, so leave me the hell alone already!"

Noel at first looked surprised, but then she started to cry.

Despite being drunk as a skunk, Vito finally had a moment of clarity. As he watched her cry, he remembered how Mike's dad would beat him. He had taken some of those hits for Mike, and that had been the worst time of his life. And now he was repeating the cycle. Noel had done nothing to deserve being slapped or knocked to the ground. All she had done was hug him, all she had ever done was try to love him, but he'd hurt her, just like Mike's father had hurt him. He didn't know if Mike's dad had been drunk or not, but that didn't matter. His father wasn't the only cause of Mike's disorder, but he had played a major role in it. And when he hurt her, all she knew was that daddy had caused her pain.

Vito was struck by a horrifying thought: what if he caused Noel to develop Mike's disorder? What if he made her form alternate personalities? He didn't like her, but it was something he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. If he kept this up, it was a possibility. He would never be able to live with himself if he did that to a kid.

This was a whole new feeling for Vito. Never before had he experienced guilt, and he didn't like the way it felt. He had never taken responsibility for anything either, he was a lone wolf and he only cared about number one. But for the first time, he was forced to think of someone else, not just himself and what he wanted.

It was in that moment he made the decision that he wasn't going to get drunk anymore, or even drink. He wasn't Noel's father, he never would be, but he still had a duty to her.

Vito knelt down and picked up the crying toddler in his arms and bounced her like he'd seen Zoey do to calm her down. He had no idea what he was doing.

"All right, enough crying, you're fine," he slurred.

Noel stopped crying, but she was still upset. Her clothes were wet, she must have played in the mud before the sandbox.

"Maybe we can make a truce. What do you say, brat? Maybe we can form some kind of alliance."

She only sniffled.

"Zoey will kill me if you freeze to death, I'd better get you back inside."

He carried her back inside the house. He stumbled and staggered and nearly fell, but she didn't notice. Being only two years old, Noel quickly forgot the incident and put her arms around his neck. She started sucking her thumb and humming to herself.

Vito carried her to her room and changed her into dry clothes.

"Thank God you're potty-trained."

Once she was clean and warmed up, he put her in her little toddler bed. Or tried to, she wouldn't let go.

"Come on brat, I want to go to sleep. Vito's real hammered right now, I'm seeing two of you."

She still wouldn't let go. He could have easily forced her off, but he was trying to be nice, and keep her from crying again.

"I've never been nothin' but nasty to you, and I made you hit your head. Why won't you let go?"

He then remembered how Noel was afraid of monsters under her bed and in the closet, and how every night she wouldn't sleep until Mike or Zoey checked and proved to her that she was safe. He heaved a great sigh.

"You can't make this easy, can you?"

He carried her over to the closet and opened it. Noel closed her eyes. "See? Empty. No *hic* monsters. What a surprise."

Noel peeked and saw that he was right. But she still clung tightly to him.

He got down on the floor with her, and they both looked under the bed. "None under here, either. Nothin's comin' to eat you, you're gonna be fine."

She finally let him pry her off of his neck and she laid down on her pillow. For the first time in her life, he noticed how pretty she was. She might be the spawn of Zoey, but she was beautiful, he had to admit. He tucked her in and she smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"Maybe I could teach you to surf. That might be fun, huh?"

For the first time, Vito was seeing Noel as a person, not as an annoying ball and chain. He realized that he might actually come to like her, someday.

"You go to sleep now, okay? No more nighttime excursions, I gotta crash."

He got up to leave, and just as he was about to close the door, Noel reached out with her tiny hand for him and said, "Daddy stay."

He would go along with it just this once. "Daddy has to go."

The memory ended, and Mike realized that Vito felt bad for wasting those first two years. Those were two years out of seven he could never get back, now that she was dead. She was the only thing in the world that made him feel guilty about indulging his favorite vices of drinking, gambling, and sleeping with other women. He still indulged them every now and again, but he kept it to a minimum for her. She was the only thing in the world that made him think twice before doing something irresponsible, but he didn't mind it as much anymore.

He still felt terrible for what he had done to her all those years ago, especially after what had happened to her, even though he had more than made up for it. He'd hated and resented her in the beginning, but now all he could think about was finding her and bringing her home, even if it was too late to save her. He wanted to kill Mal, they all did, but they had all been too scared to so much as look at him. Not anymore.

He could feel Vito's anger and embarrassment; no one was ever supposed to know about that, especially Mike.

"_Um, Vito, I… I don't know what to say."_

"I have no idea what you're talking about. End of conversation."

"I didn't say anything," said the doctor.

"And you'd better keep it that way."

Mike let it drop. They all had cared about Noel in their own way. Mal had driven them over the edge, and now they were taking a stand. But to what end?

Vito took the doctor and ducked behind the building, opposite of the direction the guards thought he was going in. Vito took the man's wallet and read his driver's license.

"Here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna get in your car and drive off, and you're not gonna stop until you run outta gas, or else I will find you and make you wish you had left the country, got it?"

"Yes, I understand, now please let me go!"

Vito let him go but held onto the gun just in case. The doctor got into his car and sped off, and the police, under the impression that Mike was in the passenger seat, took off after him.

Manitoba took over from there and ran to the forest. Mike had never seen his personalities work so well together before, they were practically in sync.

"_What are we doing?"_ asked Mike.

"I'm gonna find Joey, Mal can't keep her hidden from me."

"_No one was able to find her, what makes you think you can?"_

"I'm the great Manitoba Smith, you ostrich! There's nothin' in this world I can't track down! I'm bringing my little sidekick home!"

"_She's been dead for an entire year! She'd be nothing but bones by now. Please Manitoba, I can't see her like that, don't make me see her like that,"_ he pleaded.

Manitoba was quiet a moment, then said, "She deserves a proper funeral at least, mate."

Manitoba tasted the dirt, and set off on her trail. Mal stopped replaying Noel's screams, but the ensuing silence was terrifying. He wasn't making any attempts to stop them, he wasn't even talking, he was just sitting in the back, waiting and watching.

If Mike had been in control, he would have reveled in the small blessing of just being outside for the first time in nearly a year. Breathing fresh air and seeing the moon and stars in the sky was something he would never take for granted again.

The moon and stars were being hidden by clouds moving in, and a powerful wind was blowing. A heavy snow was falling, it was going to be a blizzard. They were out in the cold without anything to keep them warm, not even shoes. But Manitoba was unfazed by the cold; he was too caught up in the hunt to notice.

The trail was hard to find after an entire year, but Manitoba managed to find it in under an hour, even in the bad weather. He followed it for a while and then got down on his hands and knees and dug in the snow and found an old well in the ground. The stones around the well had fallen down years ago and so it no longer looked like a well, and it had been boarded up to keep people from accidentally falling in. It was easily missed, even when it wasn't covered in snow. Manitoba lifted three of the rotting pieces of wood; the others were still nailed in, but these had been pulled loose.

"Hang on, I've been here before with Joey!" said Manitoba. "We found some bank robber's stolen loot here three years ago."

"_What'd you do with the cash?"_ asked Vito.

"Buried it somewhere else, of course."

Manitoba slipped down the hole in the wood and landed on his feet. The well was actually more than just a well; it led to a small underground tunnel, and at the far end they could see a body.

"_Please Manitoba,"_ Mike pleaded. _"I can't see her dead body, it'll tear me apart. Don't make me do this, she was my baby girl, I can't bear to see her bones lying in the dirt. I'd rather die than see her like that. Please just leave, forget we were ever here."_

Chester, inside his mind, slapped Mike. _"Pull yourself together, ya danged whippersnapper! Death is part of life, don't play dumb and pretend ya don't know that. If she's dead she's dead, runnin' away from your problems won't change that."_ But then Chester put a hand on his shoulder and said in a gentle, almost sympathetic tone Mike had never heard him use before, "_You gotta be brave for her, Mike."_

"_Okay, okay, I'll be brave. Manitoba, I'm taking over from here."_

"Sure thing, mate."

Mike took back control while the others stayed quiet in anticipation and dread for what they were about to find. Mike took a deep breath to calm himself, but he was still on edge. His hands and the rest of him shook, but not from the cold. He wanted to run away, run away and forget all of this had ever happened. But the others were right, he owed Noel this much.

Tentatively, he walked over to the body. It was encased in a sleeping bag, only her hair was visible. He slowly pulled back the zipper.

"Noel?" he whispered.

He saw her face, and her eyes shot open. Without any warning, a knife flew at him, cutting his cheek. Noel leapt out with a terrified scream and ran past him and climbed out the well. She was not dead, she was not a skeleton, she was alive.

Mike was in such a state of shock he couldn't move. His brain could process only one thought: "I don't understand!"

"_Game over,"_ said Mal, and a sudden memory overtook him, courtesy of the Malevolent One.


	8. Chapter 8

_~One year ago~_

Mal brought down the knife at her chest, but she put up her arm to shield herself and he sliced through the skin.

"What are you doing?" asked Noel as she clutched her bleeding arm.

"Oops, did that hurt my little pumpkin pie?" asked Mal in a sugary sweet voice. "Here, let me make it all better!"

He swung the knife at her again, but this time she was ready for it and she dodged it and took off running. Mal let her run and walked after her, whistling that same old tune. It was the most terrifying sound she had ever heard.

Just when she thought she had lost him, he appeared right in front of her and she yelped in surprise. He kicked her down on the ground, and she let out a scream and took off again. Like a cat playing with its dinner, he let her go again and let her think she had a chance, but of course he caught up to her again with little effort.

"Please Daddy stop this," she begged after he'd caught her again. "You're scaring me."

"Oh, you should be scared," he said as he tightly held her wrists. His voice kept shifting from Mike to Mal to Mike again and back, and it made her insides crawl. "You see my darling dear, your daddy is insane. Not the funny insane you see on Saturday morning cartoons, I mean completely psycho. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."

He took the rope and bound her hands behind her back. He ripped a piece of his shirt and used it to blindfold her. He then dragged her further into the forest by her hair as she kicked and struggled to free herself, but to no avail.

He brought her to an old, dried up well. The three boards that Manitoba had pulled up here years ago had not been nailed back down, so it was no trouble getting in. He lifted her up over the hole and dropped her down in the well. It wasn't very deep and so she wasn't injured, but it still hurt.

"Daddy?" she called up, wondering where she was and what was going on. She got no answer.

Mal left her alone in the well at the mercy of her own imagination. No doubt she was dreaming up worse things he might do to her than he actually had planned. Dread was always worse than the real thing, and he was going to savor it for a while. During that time, he went back to the car and took out the shovel. He stuck it in the ground and made sure it was covered in dirt so it would look like it had been used to dig a grave. He also made sure to leave plenty of fingerprints on it and the knife, as if the police would need the extra evidence to convict him.

He went back to the well and sat down by an oak tree and whistled while playing with the knife. He smiled to himself as he listened to her cry and scream for help. It brought back memories of all his time spent locked in the closet by Mike's mother in Mike's place. All those long hours, sometimes even days, of nothing but hunger and thirst, darkness and isolation. Pain if his father was home. He wasn't doing this because of that, but he did enjoy the nostalgia.

He let her yell and cry in the dark for three hours. The way she begged for help, either she thought someone was close enough to hear her, or she actually thought daddy would rescue her. Either way, she was wasting her breath. By the end of the three hours, she had exhausted her voice, but she still cried and whimpered. He climbed the rope down into the well and took off the blindfold. There was just enough sunlight shining down for her to see his grinning face.

"Surprise," he said as he took out the knife, and Noel's eyes widened as she watched him do it.

"Are you going to kill me, Daddy?" she whispered.

"Of course not, pumpkin. Not today."

He made several jagged cuts and slashes on her body, some deeper than others; on her hands, feet, arms and legs, the back of her neck, and on her collarbone, drawing a considerable amount of blood, but not enough to kill her. He was careful not to slice into any arteries, or to cut too deeply, that would ruin everything.

He relished in the feel of her blood as it ran from her veins onto his skin. Beautiful, crimson blood dripping off her creamy white skin. Cream and roses, rubies in the snow. Her blood was so warm, so full of life.

_Does her heart know it's bleeding?_ he wondered. _Does it know that by doing its job, if I cut too much, it will kill her? The heart must keep the body alive, but in doing so, it is ending it._

He let the blood run all over him, over his hands and arms, his shirt and pants. It had been so long since he'd been covered in the blood of his victims, it was so invigorating.

She tried to fight him during all this, but her hands were tied. Even if her hands had been free, he was far too strong for her, anyway. Her struggling only amused him more. She screamed and cried and begged him to stop with each cut, but that just made it more delicious. Finally, when she was sure she was going to bleed to death, he stopped and untied the bonds around her wrists. The ropes had left angry red sores on her wrists, but she barely noticed them when her body was marked with painful cuts and gashes.

Noel tried to stay silent, to keep from angering him so that maybe he would let her go. What had she done to deserve this? Was she not good enough for him? What could she have possibly done to make him hurt her like this?

"That's a good girl," he said as he took her in his arms and embraced her as she sobbed. "Shh, shh, it's going to be all right," he whispered consolingly. He took one of her hands and cupped his cheek with it, leaving a bloody handprint. The hug left him covered in more blood, and he took her blood-soaked doll.

"Now listen to me, Noel," he said as he held on to her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "I have a very important job for you. Your mom and baby siblings are in grave danger, and it's up to you to save them. What will you do to save them?"

"Anything," she said in a quivery voice.

"Anything?"

"Yes, anything."

"You have to leave. Leave and never come back."

"Why? I don't understand."

"Because I'm the reason they're in danger. If you stick around, I will murder Mommy and the babies, and I will make you watch. But if you leave, I won't lay a hand on them. They'll stay safe, and they'll be happy. But if you come back, if I ever see your face again, I will kill them, and it will be all your fault."

Tears poured from her eyes and made streaks through the blood on her face. "I thought you loved us, Daddy. I thought you loved me. Aren't I still your winter princess?"

Mal let out an amused chuckle. "What a stupid, childish thing to say. I never loved you, Noel. You're an embarrassment to me, a burden that I never wanted. You know, when Zoey told me she was pregnant the first time, I wanted to run for the hills, but I didn't because I felt guilty. Not anymore though. I want you gone. I could just kill you and let the buzzards have whatever's left, but since I'm your daddy, I'm giving you just one chance to stay alive. Run and hide, I don't care where, just don't let me see your face again, or it's bye-bye Mommy and bye-bye babies. Am I clear?"

Noel didn't respond.

"I said, _am I clear_?" he growled menacingly.

Noel nodded fervently, her body shivering partially from the cold, but mostly from the sheer abject terror she felt, and the betrayal, that her own father would do this to her.

"Well, don't just stand there, get lost!" he shouted at her.

Noel ran away as fast as she could down the dark cave, but she couldn't go far because she hit a dead end. Mal laughed as he watched her go, and then he climbed back out of the well. He took the doll and went to the road that ran by the woods, all the while gradually giving control back to Mike so that he would be disoriented when he got back full control.

The memory flashed through Mike's mind for less than a second, but even after it was finished he couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Surely this must be another hallucination, Noel couldn't possibly still be alive. He was imagining her, just as he had imagined her in his cell. He was extremely conflicted; he could accept that she wasn't really there and spare himself the heartache of chasing after an illusion, but go the rest of his life wondering if it really was her. Or, he could chase after her, but find that she was just a mirage, a product of his broken and sick mind. He didn't know what to do.

The others were in shock, as well, but they managed to get a hold of themselves and yell at Mike, _"Run! Go after her! Run!"_

Mike realized that even if she was just a hallucination, he had to be sure or he would truly go mad wondering if she was real or not. He regained control of his legs and climbed out of the well and chased after Noel. He had trouble seeing with the snow blowing in his face, but he could just barely make out her silhouette.

"For a whole year you made me think she was dead," he said as he ran. "You told me you killed her! You wouldn't stop bragging about it the entire time I was locked up!"

"_Okay, I lied. But it was only a little white lie."_

"Why? You told me she was dead, why didn't you just kill her? It doesn't make any sense. What kind of sick game is this?"

"_Oh, I wanted to, I really did. But I thought to myself, if I kill her now, I'll never get to play with her again. And I think you will agree, there are things so much worse than death. I sent her away to grow up and spend the rest of her life living in fear and exile, running from her own father, bearing the marks as a constant reminder of his betrayal. And you'd spend the rest of your life in the nuthouse, believing you'd murdered your own daughter and letting the guilt slowly consume you and drive you over the edge. _

"_I wanted to see how long Noel could keep herself hidden, to see if she would break and come back, or if she really could live like out in the wild the rest of her life. I wanted to see how long you would stay in the asylum, before you manned up and went after your daughter, and to see how much power you would give me. I wanted to see how far I could bend Zoey until she snapped. Basically, I put everyone in terrible positions, and I wanted to see what you would do in those positions. Overall, you didn't really disappoint. What a fun game it was."_

Mike kept running after Noel, and he was catching up quickly. He caught her and hugged her tightly.

"Oh Noel, I can't believe you're alive, you need to come home with me right now."

"Get away from me!" she screeched. She bit him and kicked and squirmed her way out of his grasp and climbed a tree to get away from him.

Mike couldn't believe how stupid he was being. How could he possibly expect her to come with him willingly after everything Mal had done to her? She had been alone out here for a year, her main focus on survival and unable to go home despite it being so tauntingly close. And with Mal's threat constantly looming over her head, going with him would mean letting Mal kill her family, so of course she was going to fight him. By now she probably hated him as well as feared him, and could anyone blame her? But he had to bring her home, he wouldn't let her spend another freezing night out here by herself.

"Noel, please listen to me," he called. "I know you're scared, I know I hurt you, and I am so sorry, I'll never stop being sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. Please come down, and I'll explain everything to you. Please come down."

Noel didn't budge. Before Mike could say or do anything else, Mal took back control and quickly climbed the tree after her.

"Hey Noel, miss me?"

Noel leapt through the trees like a squirrel. Mal wasn't as light or agile as Noel, but he didn't let that stop him from chasing her. He caught her and threw her over his shoulder and jumped down from the tree. Noel tried to fight her way out of his hold, but he was too strong for her.

"Noel and I had a deal, Mike. If she never let me see her again, Zoey and the boys would stay safe. But you violated the terms of our agreement by coming out here and finding her, so now I'm going to kill the family, one by one, and I'm starting with the firstborn. And you'll be left lying in the ashes."

Mal dropped Noel on the ground and wrapped his fingers around her throat and squeezed. She tried to pull his hands away, but he was too strong.

Inside his mind, Mike felt helpless. He could feel Mal's demented glee and exhilaration leaking into him, and it was sickening. He tried to resist, but his efforts were useless. That is, until Noel managed to gasp one word.

"…Daddy."

Hearing her voice gave him the strength he needed to fight back. Mike let out a feral cry and Mal's grip on her loosened as they fought for control. She coughed and gasped for air as she watched Mike's body writhe on the ground; it spasmed as though being shocked with electricity.

Mike stood back to his feet, but he lurched forward and moved awkwardly. Mike and Mal, in their fight for dominance, both controlled different parts of the body, and it made for a bizarre and disturbing sight to see. Noel didn't stay to watch it though, she took off running for her life.

Chester, Svetlana, Vito, and Manitoba came to Mike's aid. Inside the mind, the five of them came at Mal and brawled it out. Manitoba tackled him to the ground and wrestled him into submission. They ganged up on him and took out their long pent-up anger on him.

"_This is for Joey!"_ cried Manitoba as he punched him in the teeth.

"_This is for torturing her and making her run away!"_ shouted Vito as he kicked him in the ribs.

"_This is for trapping us in here all this time_!" yelled Chester as he beat him with his cane.

"_Zis is for all ze torment you put Mike and Zoey through!"_ screeched Svetlana as she jumped on him repeatedly.

They beat him to a bloody pulp, until he was barely recognizable. They let up to catch their breath, and Mal, though he could barely breathe, laughed at them hysterically.

"_What's so funny, crocodile?"_ asked Manitoba.

"_You are!"_ he gasped. _"Don't you see? Mike never had to go to the asylum, Noel never needed to spend the last year in exile in the woods. If you had just gone to look for her sooner, like you did tonight, you could have avoided so much pain! But I knew you wouldn't go looking for her, because you're all weak, sniveling cowards. Since the day you were brought into existence, all you've done is run away and hide from your problems. Something too hard? Let Mike or another personality handle it. Something too scary? Get the hell out of there. Vito, Manitoba, you're supposed to be tough and fearless, but this past year you've done everything I told you to do without question. You all tried to hide, hoping I'd forget you were there. Just like when Mike was little-bitty, you've never gone out of your comfort zone or looked death in the face. Nothing has changed, and you never will change."_

"_Ve should have taken more of Mike's punishments, zat is true,"_ said Svetlana. _"Ve should not have made you take so many, it vas wrong. Ve bear some of ze blame in vat you became, ve made our decisions and ve must be living with zem for the rest of our lives. But zat does not excuse vat you have done! You chose to become zis, no one forced it on you. None of zis ever had to happen."_

"_You may have taken the most punishments, but trying to murder Mike's family kind of cancels that out, wouldn't you agree?" said Manitoba. "It's one thing to go tormenting us, but when you involve the sheila or the joeys, then you've gone too far. We are not weak, we're going to lock you away and you will never see the light of day again."_

"_Let's lock up this goomba!"_ said Vito.

Together with Mike, they dragged Mal to the tower, back to his cage. Mal didn't struggle or try to free himself, until they reached the very top. He summoned the last of his strength and escaped their hold on him, and took back control of the body once again. He chased after Noel, but it was a struggle to stay in control when the others were all fighting back at once. Still, he managed to hang on. He followed her footprints in the snow and found her hiding in a small cave.

"Let's finish this," he hissed.

She screamed and kicked him in the face, but he latched onto her and started strangling her again. He tasted blood in his mouth, he smiled down at her with blood red teeth and manic eyes.

"_Let her go!" _Mike screamed.

"Oh come on Mike, you let the others play with the baby all the time, now it's my turn to play with _my _daughter. What are you going to do when my baby girl is dead, Mike? What are you going to do when my wifey's dead, and my little boys too? I'm going to make you watch as they die, and you won't be able to save them. You'll be powerless to do anything, just like you've always been. I won't let you die, and so you'll go the rest of your life living with the knowledge that it was your own hands that snuffed them out like candles, and it will drive you mad. I'm going to kill them all, what are you going to do about it, huh?" He asked tauntingly. "What are you going to do about it?!"

Mike took back control and said, "She is not your daughter! They're my family, not yours, and you will never touch them again!"

Mike seized Mal and they all grabbed him and wouldn't let go. He kicked and struggled to free himself, but he couldn't break free. Before them was Mal's golden throne, which had been broken during their battle on Total Drama. The throne was cracked in half, and at its feet were five sets of chains. These were the very same chains that had kept them enslaved the first time Mal had taken full control, when Mike was just a child. His rein then had lasted two full years. He had been using these same chains to keep them imprisoned for the past year, as well.

They shoved him into his broken throne and each one took the chains he'd once locked them in and tied them around him; around his legs, arms, chest, and neck. Mal couldn't move, but he was already working to free himself from the chains.

Mike was about to secure the final lock. It was the biggest one of all, and without it the others were useless. Mike took a piece of brain matter and formed it into a key to lock him in for good. He was finally starting to feel confident again, ready believe in himself again, until Mal delivered the killing blow.

"_Do you really think Zoey will take you back? Even if you do defeat me, do you honestly think she would let you come anywhere near the twins or her daughter? She might still have a thing for you, but babies come first in a mother's heart. And even if she would be willing to give you another chance for about the millionth time, Noel will never trust you again. When she sees you, all she sees is death and insanity. She will always live in terror of you, and she will never forgive you. Your wife will reject you, your daughter will scream at the sight of you, your sons will grow up ashamed of you, and the whole world believes you're a crazed murderer. You are an outcast in every definition of the word. When your loved ones look at you, all they'll see is a freak to be pitied and avoided. Go ahead, lock me away again, it's not like the hero has a home to return to."_

Mike faltered, and he let the key drop to the ground. He was right, he had no home to go back to. He couldn't go home and ask Zoey to forgive him. Noel might be alive, but this was too much for anyone to forgive. Noel would always hate him, and his sons would grow up to hate him, too. He was hated by the whole world, and he would never have his old life back. So what was the point of locking Mal away? He might be free in his own mind, but he'd never be free in the outside world again. This fight wasn't worth it if he couldn't have his family back.

He lowered his head in defeat and shame, but then he felt someone thrust the key back into his hands.

"_We're grateful for your opinion, but we'll let Zoey and Noel decide for themselves, thank you very much,"_ said Chester.

"_Guys, there's no point. He's right, I can never get back what I lost."_

"_Mike, do not be quitting on us now! You are not our king, like Mal has pretended to be, but you are ze only one here who is vorthy of leadership of zis mind. You are intelligent, creative, ambitious, patient, determined, kind, and caring. You care about us, even zough ve don't alvays deserve it. Yes, you may never get your family back, but if you do not stop Mal zen all hope is lost!"_

"_Make him pay for what he did!"_ said Vito. _"Lock him away so he can't ever escape again!" _

"_Fight for them, mate! Fight for your family!"_

Mike gripped the key tightly in his fist. _"You're right. I may never get my family back, but I can't let that stop me. And besides, you already took them from me, and you know what that means, Mal? I have nothing left to lose, but everything to gain."_

Mike stuck the key into the lock and locked it. He destroyed the key and let it fade to dust.

Once they were all outside the tower, Mike used the mental techniques Dawn had taught him to put up mental walls around the tower, and the others helped secure them to make them permanent. He thought of Zoey as his center, but she wasn't the only one; Noel and his sons were part of his center, too. Thinking of them, and the injustice done to them by Mal, and all the pain and suffering he had caused, gave Mike the power to make a stand. These walls were far taller and stronger than the ones he'd made before, so that even if Mal were to escape the chains, the barriers would keep him from escaping the tower. These walls were never coming down.

"_Forced once again into the recesses of your mind in my beloved tower." _Mal wasn't shouting, he sounded calm and indifferent, like he didn't care he had lost, but Mike was able to hear him as if he were whispering in his ear. _"I was beginning to miss this place. You may have won this time Mike, but don't get too comfortable. Maybe I'll come back someday, maybe I won't. Who knows what the future holds. Just remember that I'll always be with you, in your heart."_

Mal laughed maniacally, and the sound echoed through his mind. It was meant to throw off Mike and unsettle him, but he knew this time that Mal wasn't coming back. He was never taking control again. He no longer doubted that he was the original personality, or that his life was real, and Mal would never have that kind of power over him again.

"_Goodbye, old friend,"_ said Mike. He didn't know if Mal was able to hear him or not, but it didn't matter. He took back control of his body and released Noel.

Noel rubbed her throat for a second, then took off again. Mike took off after her, but he didn't know how he would convince her to come back home with him, or how he could ever regain her trust. Too much damage had been done. But even if she wouldn't trust him, he at least had to get her home to Zoey. He couldn't leave her out here alone.

It was pitch black, and so Noel never saw the cliff. She fell, but managed to grab a root sticking out of the ground. It held, but it wouldn't last very long. If she fell, it would be over a fifty-foot drop.

Mike reached out a hand; he was so close, but he needed her to take his hand so he could pull her up.

"Noel, take my hand!"

"No! You'll kill me if I do!"

"If you don't let me help you, you'll die anyway!"

Noel was quiet a moment, and then she began to cry miserably. Mike realized that she was actually going to let herself fall, because even if it meant death, at least the fall would be quick, while death at Mal's hands was guaranteed to be as slow and painful as possible.

"Noel, listen to me, please. I know you have absolutely no reason to trust me. You've been through so much over the past year, and you're still so young, too young to have to bear such a terrible burden. You have every right to be scared of me, and sometimes, I'm scared of myself too."

"Because you're insane?"

"I'm not insane, but I'm not… not all there either. It's too much to explain right now, it'll take too long and you don't have long on that root. But if you'll let me help you, I promise I'll explain it to you and help you understand."

"I can't," she whimpered. "Mom, and the babies…"

"I promise that nothing will happen to them if you come with me. You've been so brave and selfless for them, but you don't have to be anymore."

"How do I know you're not tricking me?"

"I can't prove it to you. If there was a way to prove that I'm not tricking you, I would do it, but you're just going to have to trust me."

The root was beginning to tear.

"Then I can't go with you."

"But here is what I can do." He couldn't stop the flow of tears down his face. "Noel, you're one of the most important things in my life, along with your mom and little brothers. I love you more than my own life, you mean everything to me. I thought I'd never see you again, you don't know what that did to me. I thought I'd lost you forever, but here you are, just out of my grasp. If you don't take my hand Noel, I'll lose you again. I can't lose you again. What's a knight without his winter princess?"

"I have baby brothers?" she asked.

"So I'm told, I haven't gotten to meet them. I don't even know their names."

"Do you promise that if I go with you, they won't get hurt? You won't hurt them, or Mom?"

"I promise you Noel, nothing is going to happen to any of you. Now come on, don't you want to meet your baby brothers? I'm sure they can't wait to meet you."

Noel was still extremely conflicted, but hesitantly, she took Mike's outstretched hand and let him pull her to safety. Once she was safe though, she backed far away from him, and he didn't try to touch her again.

"Let's go to the well and get warmed up," she suggested, and Mike followed her lead.

The second time Mike went into the well, he noticed things he had overlooked the first time. A fire pit, tattered, worn out clothing, and several canned foods. Noel started a small fire, for which Mike was very grateful. It felt like every single one of his fingers and toes had fallen off.

In the light from the fire, Mike was able to get a closer look at Noel. He could already see a ring bruises forming around her neck from where Mal had tried to strangle her, like a necklace. Her complexion was very pale, and her hair was pulled back in a simple braid. He could see a few of the scars Mal had given her, an eternal reminder of her ordeal. The one that stood out most was on her collarbone like a crescent moon. None of the scars diminished her beauty, but now every time she looked in the mirror, she would see the scars and think of Mal. Now that she was out of danger she had calmed a little, but she still had that wild look in her eyes from living in isolation and fighting for survival for so long.

It took Mike a long time to decide if he should speak or not. He was having trouble keeping his composure; here was Noel, the daughter he thought he'd lost. All he wanted to do was hold on to her and never let go, but his very presence terrified her. Not to mention he knew he must look like a corpse after his time in the asylum. He couldn't even touch her without her panicking. How could he ever fix this? Would he ever have his daughter back? Should he have her back?

Before he could say anything, Noel said, "You told me I'm an embarrassment and a burden to you, you said that you wanted to leave but you stayed because you felt guilty. Is that true?"

"No, no never," said Mike, appalled that she could believe such a lie. It would be easy to believe it after what Mal had done to her. "That was a lie. I mean, I did almost leave at first, but not because of you. I wanted to be a dad, but I didn't think I could be a good enough father to you, and my fears came true. But Noel, you have never been an embarrassment or a burden to me, and you never will be. I love you more than you will ever know."

He could read her thoughts clearly on her face as she hugged her knees to her chest. _If you love me, why did you do this to me?_

"It must have been very scary, being out here all by yourself," said Mike quietly.

Noel nodded. "I heard Mom calling for me in the woods, I heard her crying. I'm sorry that I made her cry."

"Don't be sorry, none of this was your fault. You did what you had to, and because of what you did, Mom and your brothers are safe. Nothing bad happened to them, you protected them by staying hidden. You're very brave."

She just shrugged.

"Did you ever get sick, or hurt out here? Did any wild animals try to hurt you?"

"I got sick, and some of my cuts got infected, but I got better."

"You must have been so lonely."

"You have no idea."

"Actually, I do. I've been alone for a long time now, too. Where did you get all this stuff, by the way?" he asked.

"I stole it from a homeless shelter. Are you mad at me?"

"No, no I'm glad you did it. You had to do it to survive, and you're okay, that's what's important."

"It was really your survival training that kept me alive, you know."

Inside his mind he heard Manitoba say in a proud voice, _"That's my girl."_

"Actually Noel, it wasn't my training." How was he going to explain this to a child, without frightening her further? "I'm going to do my best to explain, but you're going to have be patient with me, okay?"

"Okay."

This was it. He was going to tell her the truth, but was it really such a good idea? She was already terrified of him, this would only make it worse. But he had to do it, she had to understand that he wasn't the one who did those terrible things to her. He took a deep breath and said, "Noel, I have something called Multiple Personality Disorder. Have you ever heard of that?"

She shook her head no.

"It's really complicated, but at its most basic level, it means I have more than one personality. It's kind of like I have other people living inside my head. I wasn't born with them, they came later. Sometimes they like to take the wheel and do their own thing. When they do, I usually don't see what's happening, I'm not there. It's like I go to sleep and one of them takes over. Like Manitoba teaching you survival skills? That was another personality, not me."

"And the others? Chester, Svetlana, Vito? They're all other personalities too?"

"Yes," said Mike, relieved that she seemed to understand, despite his poor job of explaining.

"Is it like a disease? Are you sick?"

"No, and it's not contagious. My brain just works differently, that's all."

"Will it ever go away?"

"No, I'll have it as long as I live."

"So you are insane. The kids at school called you freak, and they were right, weren't they?"

She backed away even further, as far as she could go. She didn't mean to hurt him, but hearing those words

from his own daughter was worse than any pain he'd ever felt.

"I'm not insane." He had believed he was for a long time, but Zoey always insisted that he wasn't. He was trying to make himself believe it, but it was hard, especially after something like this. "My brain doesn't really work like it should, and I'm probably the world's biggest weirdo, but I'm not crazy. Do you think I'm a freak?"

"I never did before. I… I'm not sure what to think."

"The one who hurt you was another personality called Mal. He's the one who lied to you and made you have to hide. He didn't hurt you because you had done anything to him, he did it for the fun of it. He's like my shadow, he has all the darkness inside me and he hurts people because of it."

"When he comes back, he's going to kill me," she said with a shiver.

"No, he won't ever hurt you again, I won't let him."

"But you couldn't stop him the first time. He could have killed me, and you didn't protect me."

Her words cut him deeply. "You're completely right, I was powerless last time. And for the past year, I've been letting him have all the power, because I had no reason to fight back. But now that I found you, it gave me the will to fight again, and I will never let him have that kind of control over my life again."

"How can you know for sure?"

"Because I love you too much to let Mal take you away again. I know how to fight him now, I know how to keep him from coming back. It won't be easy, but I'm making sure he's gone for good."

Noel was still having trouble believing in him, and Mike was having doubts himself. They let the conversation end and they both slept for a few hours by the fire. It was the first time that year that he had been able to sleep. It was a troubled, fitful sleep, but it was still sleep.

Mike woke up just before the sun began to rise and gently woke up Noel without touching her.

"Hey, hey wake up. We need to get going."

Noel opened her eyes and gasped. She jumped and moved away from him as fast as she could. But then she relaxed and edged closer to him, but still kept her distance. He forced himself to act natural and calm, and not show just how much it killed him to see the fear in her eyes.

"Are we going home?"

"Yes sweetheart, we're going home."

They decided they would leave her things and come back for them later. They both climbed out of the well and started the trek through the woods to home. The weather had cleared up, and it was no longer snowing, but it was still freezing.

Mike made sure to keep enough space between them to keep Noel calm. He wanted so badly to take her in his arms, to carry her like he used to when she was a baby. He wanted to feel her heartbeat to convince himself that she really was alive and with him, and not just a figment of his imagination. He'd be lucky if he got to hold her, or even touch her, ever again.

"Happy birthday, by the way."

"It's my birthday?"

"Yesterday. You're officially eight years old now, which means I missed out on your entire seventh year."

"So did I."

It occurred to Mike that Noel had probably heard the search parties and had to stay hidden from them, instead of running to them.

"Why didn't you stay with that homeless shelter you stole from? It would have been warmer, and safer."

"They would have recognized me and brought me home. I couldn't let anyone see my face."

"I'll make sure you never have to hide again," he promised. Even if it meant leaving for good, he would make sure she was safe. It would be the hardest thing he would ever do, but he could do it, for her.

The sun had fully risen by the time they reached their house. It felt like a thousand years had passed since either of them had been home.

Inside the house, Zoey was wrapping gifts for Jack, Riley, Mike, and Cameron. She didn't really feel like celebrating Christmas anymore given that yesterday was the anniversary of her daughter's disappearance, but she had to do something for the babies' first Christmas. She hoped the warden would let her give Mike his gift, last year she hadn't been allowed.

She wondered where Mike was. They told her he had escaped, but so far they had no idea where he was. There was a guard stationed outside in case he showed up here, but he had heard a noise from a few houses down and was currently checking it out. She wondered if it was Mike who had escaped, or Mal. She prayed to God it wasn't Mal.

She heard a light knocking on the door. She crept past the boy's room where they were sleeping and went to the door.

When she opened it and saw who it was, she screamed and slammed the door in their faces. She covered her face with her hands and started hyperventilating.

"This is not happening, it cannot be happening. I must be dreaming, this can't be real."

She pinched herself to try to wake up, but nothing happened. She worked to steady her breathing. She wasn't sure if she should open the door or not. Surely she was seeing things, it couldn't really be them. After mentally bracing herself, she opened the door again, and there stood Mike and Noel, real and in the flesh.

"Mama!" said Noel.

"Mike, what is going on?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I found her, Zoey. Noel's alive."

It took Zoey several moments to process all this and get through the shock. She then threw her arms around her husband and daughter, crying hysterically.

"How did this happen? What about Mal? Noel, where have you been? I told you she was alive, Mike! I told you, and now she's here! She's here! She's come home, you've both come home!"

Zoey picked Noel up in her arms and kissed her all over. She held her close and laughed as tears of joy ran down her face.

"I missed you Mom, so much."

"I'm never letting you go again. Oh, my baby, you've come back to me at last."

Their embrace was interrupted by a baby crying.

"You've got to meet Jack and Riley!" said Zoey. She took Mike's hand and ran with Noel back into the house.

"Who?" asked Mike as he followed close behind.

"Your sons!"

Zoey led them into the boy's room, which Gwen had painted to look like they were in the ocean. There was one crib, and two grumpy little boys.

Zoey set Noel down and handed her a baby. She picked up the other one and was about to hand it to Mike, but she hesitated.

"What about Mal? What's become of him?"

"Dawn taught me to defend my mind against him, he's locked up for good now. But if you'd feel safer if I didn't touch him, I completely understand. I won't touch either of them until you're sure it's really me," said Mike as he backed away.

"Mal would make up some excuse for me to trust him, you're not making excuses. I trust you."

Zoey handed him the baby, but she stood close by, just in case.

"Mike, this is Jack. Noel, this is your brother, Riley."

"Hi Riley," said Noel. "You're so cute."

Mike cradled the baby in his arms. Jack looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. He was curious, but not frightened. He reached up with his tiny fingers and touched his cheek. Both boys had his dark hair, but they had Zoey's eyes.

"_Yes! Finally boys!"_ said Vito from inside his mind. _"Just wait until they get older, we're gonna have a blast!"_

"_Doing ze same things you do with Noel?"_ asked Svetlana.

"_Maybe. Maybe she can tag along, we'll have to wait and see."_

"_Now be quiet, let Mike be having his moment."_

Mike was so relieved to have Svetlana on his side in times like this.

"I know you wanted sisters, but do you think you can settle for brothers?" asked Zoey.

Noel didn't have to think about it. With a broad smile she said, "I guess boys aren't so bad. I'm just glad I get to be a big sister."

"Mike, are you okay?" asked Zoey. Mike seemed to be having trouble breathing.

"I'm overwhelmed." He couldn't believe all this. In just this one day, not only had he gotten his daughter back, he got to be back with his wife and meet his baby boys for the first time. He wiped the tears from his eyes and said, "I never thought I would get to meet my sons. They're more wonderful than I imagined."

The others inside his head were gushing over the new babies, especially Manitoba and Vito since they were boys. Soon they would demand to be let out so they could hold the babies, but for the time being they let him be.

As Jack began to fall asleep in his arms, he was harshly woken up by the barking of a police officer.

"Freeze! Put the infant down and put your hands behind your head!" said the officer as he pointed a gun at his head.

"Zoey, take Jack," said Mike as Jack started to cry. Zoey took the baby and Mike got down on his knees and put his hands behind his head.

"Officer, Noel is alive, Mike is innocent!" said Zoey as the officer roughly cuffed him.

The officer's eyes widened as he finally took notice of the missing girl. "I still have to bring him in, but the girl will need to come down to the station."

"What is he doing? Why is he arresting Daddy?" asked Noel.

"Everything's going to be okay, Noel, I promise," said Mike. He turned his head and gave her a reassuring smile before he was led down the stairs and out into the squad car. The car sped off, and Zoey and Noel got in their car and followed them to the station.

"Why are they arresting him, Mom?" asked Noel. "Why do I have to go to the police station?"

"Everything is going to be fine, sweetie, you'll see. Now tell me everything. What happened? Where have you been?"

Inside Mike's mind, his alters were all congratulating themselves on defeating Mal and celebrating Noel's return. All except Svetlana, who tried to sneak off, but Manitoba caught her. He put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"_Where you going, Svet?"_ asked Manitoba. _"Aren't you gonna celebrate with us?"_

"_Later. Zere is something Svetlana must be doing first, she has unfinished business to be taking care of."_

"_Okay then, just hurry back soon, all right Sugar Glider?"_ he said with that cocky grin of his.

"_Of course."_

Svetlana made the long walk back to Mal's tower. She wasn't completely sure why she was doing this, there was really nothing to be gained by it. For years she had wanted to do it but she could never bring herself to. But things had changed, and she was done keeping her silence.

The way the walls worked, Mike and the others could pass through them, they were only impenetrable to Mal. She passed through and went through the door, and climbed the winding stairs until she came to the top. Mal was sitting in his throne, his head hanging down so she couldn't see his face, and he was still in chains. She had half-expected him to be free by now.

She felt her blood run cold when she heard him speak.

"_Visiting hour already? No one ever came to visit me the last two times I was locked up. What's the special occasion, Tinkerbelle? You miss me?"_

He looked up and smiled at her with that malevolent grin they all knew so well. Even now, beaten, defeated, and in chains, he was still terrifying. Svetlana took a deep breath and steeled herself for whatever he might do. She forced herself to look him in the eye.

"_Ven Mike vas a child, you took all of his memories away from his past. Ven you gave him his memories back, you did not give zem all back. You kept ze ones zat reveal ze truth of who you once vere. You took some our memories too, not all, just ze dangerous ones. Not to protect us, but to protect yourself. But you vere not as thorough as you thought. I still have some of zose memories. I remember who you really are."_

Mal's eyes widened in genuine shock. Svetlana felt braver after seeing the effect of her words on him. Nothing ever took him by surprise or threw him off his guard. She walked right up to him and stood just out of his reach.

"_You have vorked so hard to hide who you used to be, you hate it more zan you have ever hated anything. Mal is not ze name you started with, it is short for Malevolent One, ze name you gave yourself. You tell Mike and Zoey and ze others zat you started out vithout a name, you have been feeding everyone zis lie for years. You hide behind it like mask, and zough you may have ze others fooled, I know ze truth. You could not bear ze truth of who you vere, or rather, who you vere not. It is your only shame. You vould do anything to destroy your memories of who you used to be, but you cannot, and so you became a monster. I pity you, it is a most terrible burden to bear. Svetlana zinks it is ze most tragic story she has ever known."_

"_What do you want, Svetlana? Get to the point or get out,"_ he growled.

"_Svetlana truly is sorry ve did not help you ven you needed it, ve vere selfish and scared. Mike vas lucky to have you zen, but not anymore. If Svetlana could go back and set zings right, she vould. But now ve must go help Noel, and you must live with ze consequences of vat you have done. Do not be vorrying, your secret is safe with me. I vill not tell ze others or Mike because it vould not do anyone any good. It vould only hurt Mike more, and you have hurt him enough. I vill not be coming here again, but just remember zat I know your true name."_

"_Don't say it," _he said in a deathly whisper, which was more unnerving than if he'd shouted at her.

"_Jacob."_

Mal snarled and snapped his teeth at her, he struggled viciously to free himself so he could attack her, but he was powerless against the chains. She ignored his fury and left the tower. She didn't feel better for doing this, if anything it only saddened her more. But she had dealt Mal a serious blow, and it made her feel vindicated, which had to be worth something.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she heard his howl of rage echoing from the tower.

"_If only Jake were still here,"_ she whispered to herself.


	9. Chapter 9

The police reinvestigated the case. Since Noel had been found alive, they could no longer keep Mike for murder. He was cleared of all charges, but he had to undergo a full psyche evaluation, and he was being kept for no less than three weeks. During that time, he was allowed no visitors or outside contact. It killed Zoey that he had to be locked away again after all this, but he assured her he would be fine. Unlike last time, he knew he wouldn't be there forever.

Christmas day came and went with no celebration. Mike was still undergoing his psyche evaluation, and they refused to celebrate without him, so they postponed it.

After the evaluation, it was determined that he was not a risk to himself or his family, and he was allowed to leave, though he still had to see a psychiatrist at least once a week. He was put in contact with a good psychiatrist at a price they could afford. Dawn came back and assured him that his aura was, for the most part, free of Mal's influence.

"But you still must do the mental exercises I taught you and secure the walls in your mind at least once every two weeks, and it never hurt to do it more often than that. If you do, you won't have to worry about Mal anymore."

"But what if I hit my head again? That's what released him last time."

"The mental techniques I taught you should protect against that. It takes a lot to break down the walls I set up."

Mike hugged Dawn, and she hugged him back.

"Thanks Dawn, I really appreciate all this. If it weren't for you, I never could have defeated Mal. Even if I had escaped and found Noel sooner, without your training, I couldn't have kept Mal away. He would have killed them all. I owe you a debt I can't ever repay."

Zoey hugged her next. "Thank you so much Dawn. I'm sorry I ever doubted you, I never will again. Will you come see us again soon?"

"I haven't been able to make connections with many humans, you're two of the very few people I care to be around that aren't animals. You'll be seeing me again soon, but not in the way you expect. Zoey, how are you at making wedding dresses?"

"I've never made one before, but I'd love to start. Why? Is someone you know getting married? Are you getting married?"

"That's all I needed to know. I go where the wind takes me, but you haven't seen the last of me, that I can promise you."

Mike didn't mind the psyche evaluation or the therapy or Dawn's meditation, not as long as it kept his loved ones safe. But the problem was, he wasn't sure he should go home and stay with his family. According to the psyche evaluation he wasn't a threat, but he was having trouble trusting himself. If his presence posed a threat to them, he would leave without hesitation.

Noel still struggled with nightmares and anxiety after her ordeal, and so Dawn recommended they call DJ. Although he was a phenomenal cook, he wanted to help people, and animals, by providing support and comfort, so he studied psychology and became a therapist. Zoey went to see him at his office while Mike was having his first session with his new psychiatrist, and though he was happy to take her on, he refused to let her pay him.

"I am going to pay you, whether you like it or not."

"I'm not gonna accept it. When I heard about what happened to Noel, I was really broken up over it. I'm just glad she's back and okay, she's a great kid. I know after the year you've had money's got to be tight, and with a new psychiatrist and twins, even tighter. You guys need the money more than I do."

"But DJ-"

"No buts about it, the matter is settled. Besides, us Total Drama castmates gotta look out for each other."

"DJ I have to pay you, it wouldn't be right not to. I'm not letting you treat my daughter for free."

"How about this: You guys haven't celebrated Christmas yet, right? Take the money you were going to pay me with and give Noel and your boys a Christmas to remember. It's your first together with your sons, so make it really special. And let me pop in every now and again for dinner, does that sound fair?"

Zoey relented, there was no way she could win this argument. "Thank you DJ, this is so kind of you."

She kissed him on the cheek and he smiled.

"Oh, by the way, I need a woman's opinion. Mind if I borrow yours?"

"Sure, what for?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little velvet box. He opened it and inside was a diamond ring. The ring was designed as vines twisting in a circle, and the diamond had emeralds on both sides to look like leaves on a white rose.

"I'm gonna ask Dawn to marry me on our next date."

"I didn't know you two were dating."

"It's not a secret, we just don't like to make a big fuss over it, and we're good at staying out of the press's spotlight. We just celebrated our three year anniversary. B's the one who got us together in the first place, he's her best friend and he decided to play matchmaker. I'm taking her to the Aurora Borealis and I'm gonna propose. So what do you think? Will she like it?"

"It's beautiful DJ, she'll love it." Zoey hugged him and said, "I'm so happy for you!"

DJ always did therapy sessions in an outdoor environment, but for Noel, since she had spent the last year hiding in the woods, he agreed to hold her sessions indoors. They became fast friends, and Noel was able to relax more after they started therapy together.

Before his psyche evaluation began, Zoey was allowed to see Mike behind bars. They were brought to an interrogation room, with Mike in handcuffs. She brought Noel along with her, and she gave them some time to talk. Zoey stayed with Noel in there with them so she wouldn't be frightened.

"Noel, are you scared of me?" he asked quietly.

She didn't answer. She had been staring at his handcuffs, but she diverted her gaze to her hands in her lap. Mike noticed and put his hands under the table.

"If you…if you want me too, I'll find another place to live. I'll leave so you don't have to be afraid anymore."

"You would really do that?"

"Anything to keep you safe."

"Where would you go?"

"I don't know. I'd find a place somewhere."

"Would you ever come home to visit?"

"Only if you wanted me to."

"You'd be all alone, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I would, but don't worry about me."

"Would you be happy like that?"

No, he could never be happy alone. He needed his family more than he needed air. But if he told her that, it would make her feel guilty about sending him away, and he didn't want her to feel any guilt over this, so he said, "I suppose I could be."

Noel was silent for a few minutes, deep in thought. "Daddy, you told the story of Little Red Riding Hood wrong."

This was random and unexpected, but he went along with it. "I did?"

She nodded. "The huntsman and the wolf were the same person. The huntsman would transform into the wolf and do terrible things, like try to eat Little Red and her grandmother. But the huntsman didn't let the wolf control him, because he couldn't let him hurt the ones he loved. He defeated the wolf and saved everyone. The wolf was horrible and evil, but it didn't make the huntsman any less of a good person. The huntsman had a good heart, even with the wolf inside him."

"I like that story," said Mike, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Me too. I don't think I would be happy if you weren't with us. I don't think you're a freak, Daddy, and I don't want you to go. I'm scared, but I don't want you to go away. Please don't go away."

"We'll see, nothing's been decided yet."

"Noel, could you step outside?" asked Zoey. "I need to talk to Daddy alone for a minute."

Noel left the room without a word. Mike was relieved that Noel wanted him to stay, but that didn't mean it was a good idea. He had already decided the best option would be for him to go, but he was leaving it up to Zoey.

"What do you think, Zoey? Do you want me to come home, or do you think I should leave?"

"I haven't decided yet, I need time to think about it. I need to be sure that whatever decision I come to, it will be the right one, for you, for me, and for the kids. I'll tell you my decision after your psyche evaluation is over, but Mike, even if I decide you should go, do not think for one second it's because I hold this against you. It would be for our protection, not because I can't forgive you. I would still want you to be a part of our lives, I wouldn't let you be completely alone. But whatever I choose, I'll still love you, okay?"

"Okay. And Zoey, I trust you'll make the best decision, no matter what it is."

Zoey asked her closest friends what they believed she should do, and she spent a lot time alone deciding what she thought she should do. She also had a serious discussion with Noel about how she felt about it, because since she was Mal's biggest victim, it wouldn't be right to not include her on this. Her opinion had the greatest impact on her decision. By the time Mike was released, she had made her final decision.

After he was released, he and Zoey went to their room to talk about her decision. It was long after the kids were put to bed. Now it was time for Zoey to choose if Mike would be staying or leaving.

"Do you think you should go?" asked Zoey. "Truly?"

He nodded. "If you want me to leave, then I will. If you think you and the kids would be safer without me, then I'll go. Last time I considered leaving, it was without talking to you or considering your feelings, and that was selfish and unfair to you. We need to make this decision together. If you think I should go, I'll be sure to pay child support. If you want a divorce…" His voice hitched and it was very difficult to talk. "Then I'll sign the papers. You won't be tied to me anymore, you can be free. If you think I shouldn't be in the picture, I don't want you to feel any guilt over it, because I know that whatever decision you come to will be the right one. If I go, I promise you I'll be okay. I don't want you to worry about me, I'll still see my psychiatrist and I'll take my medication. I'll find a job somewhere and an apartment and I'll take care of myself, and I'll be fine. I don't want to go, but I have to do what's best for you and the kids. All I ask is that you let me visit them every now and again, but only if they want to see me."

"Dawn said Mal can't come back this time. Do you believe her?" she asked.

He nodded his head again slowly. "I'm still… I'm still so scared of him. Nothing my parents ever did to me was as bad as what Mal has put me through. He took everything from me; the fact that I've gotten my family back doesn't change that. I'll always be scared him, but I won't let him have the power like I did before. I'm going to get my life back, even if it means being on my own. I'm going to make sure he's gone for good this time, but I still think I should leave, just in case I… in case I fail again."

Zoey was quiet for a long while, and Mike was dreading her answer. He felt his eyes sting with tears, but he refused to cry. He couldn't cry on her shoulder on this night like he had on other nights, he needed to be strong now, for himself and for Zoey.

Finally, she spoke, slowly and quietly. "I want you to stay. I'd rather have you here with us than anywhere else, and Noel feels the same way, she wants you here. She needs more time to recover, but she doesn't want you to go.

"I believe you've got Mal under control now, I truly do. I have faith in you, I always did and I always will. I've talked to Gwen and Cameron, and they agree. I'm scared too, but I love you more than I fear Mal. Things will never be the same, he changed everything. He almost destroyed everything, and it's going to take a long time for us all to heal, but we can fix this mess he made and move on. I'm not about to let him win by sending you away. I love you Mike, and I want to start rebuilding what we lost."

"When you look at me, do you see me, or Mal? I don't want you to see him when you look at me. If you see him in my eyes, if you think of him when you look at me, then I can't stay with you, not in good conscience. I won't make you have to live with Mal."

"For a long time, I did see Mal whenever I looked at you, and I had trouble seeing the real you. Even after you brought Noel home, it was like I could still see his ghost in your eyes. I'm sorry to say this, but I'll always see pieces of him in you. Maybe that will change someday, but for now, it's the truth."

Mike lowered his head in shame, but Zoey put a finger under his chin and tilted his face back up to meet hers.

"But that doesn't mean I can't see you. In this case, a few rotten apples don't spoil the whole bunch. When we kiss…"

Zoey pulled him in for a long, deep kiss. Mike tried to resist kissing her back, he felt guilty touching her in any way, but he couldn't stop himself. It had been so long since he had kissed her, and he kissed her like there was no tomorrow. It felt like he had been drowning, and finally he could breathe again. He felt more alive in this moment than he had in months.

"I'm only kissing you," she whispered in his ear. "When I look in your eyes…"

Zoey put her hands on his cheeks and looked deeply into his eyes. Mike had almost forgotten how beautiful her eyes were. "I see only yours. When I feel your touch…"

She took his hand and cupped her cheek with it. For so long, he'd felt only cold, he couldn't feel any warmth. Her hand over his sent warmth spreading throughout his whole body. "I only feel your touch, no one else's."

She put her hand over his heart, and put his hand over hers. "I only love one man, and that's you. Your love is all I feel. Mal does not define you, he does not dominate you. You will always be Mike to me, and you will always be mine. This is your life, not his. He lost, and you won. We are going to make it through this, I promise you."

"Do you really think we can get it back? Just because I've been acquitted doesn't mean people will trust me."

"We'll move somewhere far away from here and get a fresh start. I'll become a teacher at a new school, and Noel will make new friends. You'll get a job at another studio or a theater, and you'll be a great actor. Maybe we could move closer to Gwen and Trent so we can see them more often. Of course, we'll have to stay close enough for you to keep seeing your psychiatrist, and for Noel to see DJ, but there's no way we're staying where we are now. We might drag Cameron along with us."

"We can't leave and expect everything to be perfect somewhere else."

"It's not going to get any better here. We'll find a place where no one knows us and there won't be anyone judging us or whispering behind our backs. We'll get as far from here as we need to, I'd move to Australia if it meant staying with you. Manitoba wouldn't complain."

"A fresh start does sound nice. I need a chance to start over and get things right this time."

"We'll find a new home, and maybe a little happiness, too."

Mike let out a sigh of relief as Zoey wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. He had been so sure she would send him away, but she was letting him stay. He had spent his nights during the psyche evaluation imagining life on his own, away from Zoey and his children. He would have always had a smile on for them whenever he was allowed to see them, but he would never be able to heal all alone, he was nothing without his family. But now he didn't have to consider it anymore, because he wasn't leaving. Mal was wrong, the hero did have a home to return to.

He held onto her on the bed, her arms around his neck and his around her waist. They laid down and closed their eyes in silence for a long while, savoring the feeling of being together again after so much time apart. They didn't let go until one of the twins started crying from their room. Zoey disentangled herself and got up to go check on him.

"Zoey, let me," said Mike.

"Are you sure? It's probably just a dirty diaper."

"I missed out on the first four months of their lives, I have some serious catching up to do, and that includes changing diapers."

"Then get in there, superdad."

Mike went into the boy's room and found Jack crying. As usual, his crying woke up Riley and he joined in on the wailing.

He changed their diapers, but by now they were wide awake, and still crying. It was understandable; they were used to Mommy consoling them in the middle of the night, but instead they were being held by a strange man. It was going to take a while for them to get used to their father.

"_Aw, look at the little koala bears. They'll make great sidekicks. Gonna be pretty hard to beat Joey, though."_

"_Can Svetlana be holding zem, Mike? She vants to hold ze cute babies!"_

"_We're trying to get them to sleep, not start a circus, Twinkletoes_," said Chester.

"Later, Svetlana," Mike promised. Then, to the boys, he whispered, "It's okay Jack, it's okay Riley, don't cry. Are you scared? It is pretty dark in here, isn't it? You guys should have a nightlight. Tomorrow I'll ask Noel if she'd be willing to donate her old one, she hasn't used it in years. But you don't have to be scared, you're safe with me. Yes, there are monsters out there, and they are terrifying, but I promise that I won't ever let them hurt you. I won't ever let anything happen to you, or your mommy and sister. Nothing will hurt any of you ever again."

Jack and Riley finally began to calm down, and their crying stopped. Mike couldn't bring himself to put them back in the crib, and so he stood there in their room, cuddling them long after they went back to sleep. Zoey peeked in to see what was taking Mike so long and saw him snuggling them close. She smiled to herself and silently went back to their room and left them alone.

The next morning, Zoey found him sitting in the rocking chair with both boys in his arms, and they were all sound asleep. The boys clutched onto his shirt with their tiny fists, and Mike was smiling as he cradled them in his sleep. She wiped away a tear of joy; it had been so long since she'd seen him sleeping this peacefully. Mike finally got to be with his boys, and her boys finally got their daddy back.

* * *

One night, Noel was talking to Alejito on the phone. She had already spoken to her other friends, most of them the children of her parent's friends from Total Drama, but she had been looking forward to talking to him the most. Normally they didn't call and instead wrote letters or e-mails, but she was glad to talk to him after so long. He was telling her about all that had been going on lately.

"So I called Harold and tricked him into teaching me how to hack into the school's computer system. I fixed my grade."

"Alejito, that's cheating."

"I earned that A! That teacher had no right giving me a B, just because I used the word variety three times in one essay."

"That doesn't matter, you shouldn't cheat."

"Besides, Mama and Papi think I'm weird for not doing this kind of thing more often. They're not mad about it, they just think I'm a late-bloomer. At least I didn't release a jar of spiders in the principal's car, Angelica beat me to that."

"I like you better when you're being nice and sweet."

"All right, I won't cheat anymore. But that grade stays the way it is."

"Fair enough."

"What was it like, Noel? Being out there all by yourself?"

She had been trying to avoid this question with everyone, but he did sound genuinely concerned, and she trusted him. "Very cold, very dark, very lonely, and terrifying. There were times I was sure I would freeze to death, but I'm okay now."

"Are you mad at your padre?"

"No, I know now it wasn't really him. It wasn't his fault."

"He's a fr-"

"You promised you wouldn't use that word anymore. If you talk that way about my family, I can't be your friend."

"Okay, lo siento. I won't do it again, but aren't you scared of him?"

"I love my dad, and he loves me. He's not crazy, he's not a freak, he's just different, that's all."

"If you say so."

"I do say so. I am a little afraid, but not as much as I was before. I'm just glad to be back home."

"I am too, I missed you, Chica. I thought I'd never see you again. I can't stand any of the people here, they're all incompetentes. You're my only real friend."

"I'm glad you're my friend, Alejito. You're the best one I've got."

"I wish you could have been at camp last year, they put in a tire swing over the lake, it's fantástico! Will you be coming to summer camp this year?"

"Of course, I love that place. And I'll be first in line to try out that swing."

"I got the new Yiruma CD for my birthday, I'll bring it so you can listen to it."

"There's a new one?"

"You missed a lot, Chica. We'll make it up, though."

"We'll start at camp."

"Don't tip our canoe over this time."

"Don't say mean things."

"We'll see. Goodnight, Noel."

"Goodnight, Alejito."

She hung up the phone and went up the stairs to her room. On her way, she passed her parent's room, and saw her father having one of his "bad days," as Zoey called them in front of her. He was shaking on the bed all alone, one arm around his knees and the other clutching his head. He was taking shallow, gasping breaths, and he was murmuring things to himself, but she couldn't understand him. The room around him was a mess; the sheets were torn off and pillows were thrown everywhere, as were books, CDs, clothes, and other valuables. The only thing that appeared to be broken was the mirror, and she could see that Mike's left hand was bleeding.

Even though Noel was back and he was out of the asylum, his anxiety attacks were still worse than they had been before all this started. They hadn't been happening as frequently, but it was still more often than Noel was used to.

It would take a long time for him to work through this and recover, but Zoey was already hard at work helping him by his side. Noel had watched her mother try to console him during his fits before. When they happened, she would either ask Noel to leave or ask her to come closer, it all depended on the signals she was getting from Mike. This time though, Zoey was busy with Riley because he had a fever and was throwing up, and she couldn't be in two places at once.

Noel now understood that these "bad days" were anxiety attacks caused by his condition. Before, she had just thought he was sick, and he usually got better soon, but she wasn't sure what she should do now. She had seen Zoey coax him into taking medication during his fits before, but she had no idea what to give him. Was this one of those times she was supposed to stay, or go? And did she dare go in, when it could be Mal doing this to him? What if Mal escaped again, and tried to kill her like before? Noel took a step back, and her breathing and heartbeat quickened. She wanted to run, she almost took off right there. She had to get away, before he could hurt her again.

But she couldn't leave her daddy like that, suffering all alone. She had Zoey's love and compassion, she couldn't just leave and forget this was happening. She tentatively took a step inside.

"Daddy?"

He didn't answer. She took another step, then another, until she was on the bed beside him. She hadn't touched him once since he'd saved her from falling, and he hadn't tried to touch her, either. She hadn't been running or hiding from him, but she had been keeping her distance, just in case. She hadn't made eye contact with him very much, either. She was scared to touch him, as though it might trigger and unleash Mal once again. But she had to be brave, she wouldn't let herself be a coward, so she swallowed her fears and hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder. He jerked away harshly, and she was sorely tempted to leave, but something inside her told her to try again.

She ran to the bathroom and found bandages, and she took a washcloth and dampened it with warm water. She brought out a trash bin and went back to the bed. She sat down beside him and held his hand, and this time he didn't flinch or pull away. She took the broken pieces of glass out of the skin on his hand and dropped them in the trash bin one by one. Once she was sure she had removed them all, she gently washed the blood off. The cuts weren't so bad, the blood had made it seem worse than it was. She carefully bandaged his hand to stop the bleeding the same way Zoey had bandaged her knee when she had crashed her bike the first time.

Once she had finished treating his wound, she put her arms around him and held on tight to soothe him. She didn't let go until his breathing returned to normal and he stopped shaking.

"Noel, what's going on?" he asked her blearily, once he had come back to himself. He noticed his bandaged hand and looked at it like he had never seen it before.

"It was like you were having a nightmare, but you weren't asleep. I tried to do what Mama does, I think I did it right. Are you okay now?"

"Yes but, I'm the parent here," he said, disgusted with himself. "I'm supposed to be taking care of you, not the other way around. I hurt you so much, you're scarred and I can't fix it. If only I could help you, if only I could make you feel happy and safe again. You deserve better than this, you deserve a better father than me. I'm so sorry, forgive me. Please forgive me."

His body shook with uncontrollable sobs. All the guilt and anguish he had been trying to keep hidden in front of Zoey and Noel spilled over, and he couldn't contain it any longer. He hadn't cried this hard since they had first told him they believed Noel to be dead. He would never be able to earn her trust or forgiveness, she would always fear him, and he hated himself because of it.

Noel didn't want him to think she hated him for this, for his disorder and for what had happened to her. She wanted to show him she didn't mind, that she wanted to help because she loved him. She wanted him to know that, even though she could never forgive Mal, she had already forgiven him.

"That's why, darling, it's incredible," she sang softly, barely above a whisper. "That someone so unforgettable..."

"Thinks that I am, unforgettable too," he finished for her as silent tears streamed down his face.

She moved to sit in his lap and put her arms around him, and she rested her head on his chest.

"I love you Daddy, and I forgive you."

He could feel the beating of her heart as she closed her eyes. He no longer worried if she was just an illusion. She was real, and she was right there with him.

"I love you too."

He kissed her hair and held her close, and rocked her back and forth. He couldn't believe that she was letting him hold her, he thought she never would again. It was something he would never take for granted again.

She didn't realize it, but she had just given him the greatest gift anyone could ever give him. He was finally able to believe that she had forgiven him, that he was forgivable. That maybe he could forgive himself.

That night, Noel had no nightmares for the first time in ages.

* * *

It was the beginning of February before they celebrated Christmas, and even though seeing ads everywhere for Valentine's Day didn't really put one in the Christmas spirit, it didn't put a damper on their festivities. Although, they did get weird looks from the neighbors when they hung up Christmas lights on the house when everyone else was busy buying Valentine's Day cards. Zoey said they could get away with it since the twins wouldn't know the difference. Unlike last year's Christmas, which had been full of grief and misery, this Christmas was a time for joy and reunion and celebration.

Mike and Noel went out the week before to the store to buy presents and food and anything else they would need for Christmas. Manitoba cut down a pine tree in the forest, and they spent all day decorating it. Zoey took Mike and Noel's unopened gifts from last year, dusted them off, and put them under the tree. She hadn't opened Mike's gift to her the year before either, and so she would open it with her new ones.

Noel woke up early like she did every year on this special day and ran to wake up her parents. She took Riley and Jack out of their crib and and brought them downstairs to the living room and gave them each a present.

Zoey put on a CD of their favorite Christmas songs and, still in their pajamas, they went to the living room to open gifts. The lights on the tree shone brightly, and there was even a light snow outside.

Every year, the other personalities insisted on getting Noel gifts of their own, and this year was no exception. She was a little uneasy around them after finding out that they weren't really just characters her father played, but at least they weren't Mal. She'd never stopped liking them, and maybe she could grow to love them separately from Mike. At least, that was what they silently hoped for.

"Here's your gift, don't go losing it. That cost me five dollars, can you believe it? The prices are so high nowadays, people should be rioting in the street!"

"Thanks Chester!" Noel hugged him and opened his gift. It was a simple, but elegant, bead necklace. "It's very pretty," she said as she put it around her neck. She gave him a second hug, tighter this time than before, and he patted her on the back.

Noel's uneasiness was beginning to fade. She wasn't unsettled when Svetlana took over. It had never bothered her before, and she decided that it wasn't going to bother her now.

"Here you go! Open it, open it!" she said eagerly.

Noel tore into the paper. It was a new leotard for gymnastics, and it was turquoise, her favorite color.

"Thanks! I was needing a new one."

Svetlana embraced her tightly. "Even zough you haven't gotten to be practicing in so long, you vill still be champion, maybe even better zan Svetlana."

"Oh, no one could be better than you, Svetlana."

It was Manitoba's turn next. "This one's gonna be your favorite, Joey."

Noel was really excited for Manitoba's gift. He never got her anything normal. He'd once given her a shrunken head, and she still had it in her room.

"A chameleon!" she said. "This is even better than a dog!"

She hugged Manitoba and he said, "Later, I want you to tell me all about your adventure last year, okay?"

"I will."

Last was Vito. He handed her his gift and said, "I'll have to teach you to use this, but since you're pretty good at surfing, this should be no prob."

Noel opened the gift. "A skateboard? Awesome! Thanks Vito!"

"It's my old one, it means a lot to me, so you'd better take care of it, brat."

She hugged him and he hesitantly hugged her back. "I'm uh, I'm glad you're back, kid. You're the coolest brat I know. Now let go, you're embarrassing me."

Noel let him go, and Mike came back. She opened her gifts from Mike and Zoey; a new doll, a new bike, and a new radio for her room.

"Thank you Mom, thanks Daddy!" she said as she hugged them both.

After Noel had finished opening her gifts, it was the twins' turn. Since they were too young to open their gifts themselves, the others had to do it for them. Mike's alters didn't seem to understand the limitations of five month olds, either that or they were just looking far ahead into the future, and so their gifts wouldn't be suitable until later on when they were older. But, it's the thought that counts.

Chester got them toy guns, Svetlana got them legos, Vito gave them tools for fixing cars, and Manitoba got them each a rattlesnake. Zoey put her foot down and made him promise to release the snakes the next day far away from the house.

Mike held Riley and Zoey held Jack as they helped them open their gifts.

"Look Riley, a racecar!" said Mike. He showed him how to drive it on the couch and made the noises, and Riley laughed and clapped his hands.

"Wow, a dinosaur!" said Zoey. Jack squealed and grabbed it.

"Here's my gift!" said Noel. She unwrapped her brother's gifts for them. She and Zoey had made them both a teddy bear. They hadn't had much time to get them done and so they weren't up to their usual standards, but the boys didn't care. They hugged their bears with love.

Mike and Zoey exchanged their gifts last. Zoey gave Mike a new watch and made him a new scrapbook; she made him one every year with their favorite pictures taken from that year. He loved these so much; she would always write cute little love notes by each picture and things she loved about him and their family. He knew to expect them, but he cherished them more than anything else she could give him. When he opened it, he found that it was empty.

"Where are the pictures?" asked Mike. His brows knit in confusion.

"We haven't taken them yet." Zoey held up a camera and snapped a picture of him with Jack and Riley in his arms. "This will be the first."

Mike gave Zoey her gift next, a gold locket. He gave her one every year; the scrapbook and the locket were a tradition. They both treasured their collections. Each locket had a different design; this one was shaped like a heart. She opened it up and it too was empty.

"I guess we had the same idea. It didn't seem right to put in a picture without the twins."

"I'm going to spend a fortune on film this year," said Zoey. She gave Mike a kiss, but kept it short for Noel's sake. She'd give him more later. Mike put the locket on around her neck and fastened it.

"You're so beautiful Zoey, I don't think I tell you that enough."

"You don't know how much I missed you, Mike. You and Noel both left gaping holes in my heart, but now I'm whole again."

Every year, the alters also bought Zoey a little something. They always claimed Mike made them do it, but he insisted that was untrue. This year, they bought her a snow globe with a little nativity scene inside that played _Oh Holy Night._ Personally, Zoey would be okay with it if they bought her a gumball; just the very fact that they cared enough to give her a gift at all meant a lot to her. She always made sure to get them a little something in return.

After all the gifts had been unwrapped, Zoey and Noel went to the kitchen to cook breakfast while Mike played with the twins. They were having more fun with the wrapping paper than any of their new toys.

Just as Manitoba had been about to take control so he could let the twins look at the snakes while Zoey wasn't looking, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" called Mike.

When he answered the door, he came face to face with Cameron, who was wearing a fuzzy green sweater with little snowmen on it. In his arms, he carried several gifts. Cameron looked at him like a deer in the headlights, but he made himself speak.

He cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Look, I heard what happened, that you found Noel and you were discharged. Zoey told me you guys were celebrating Christmas today, and so I brought some gifts. I won't come in or bother you, but could you pass these out for me? Some of them are kinda heavy."

Mike took the gifts from him and set them down inside. He then lifted Cameron off the ground in a tight hug.

"I am so sorry for what I said to you, it was completely out of line and uncalled for. You didn't do anything wrong, you didn't deserve it, and I knew it, I just didn't care. Thank you for taking care of Zoey and the twins when I couldn't, and for sticking by us even after I acted like such a jerk. I'm a rotten friend, but you're the best friend anyone could ever ask for. If it weren't for you, I probably would have left Zoey before Noel was born, I would have missed out on her whole life if it wasn't for you. Cam, you saved me. Can you ever forgive me?"

He put him back down, and he replied, "I know you didn't mean it, and really, who could blame you? Of course I forgive you, what are buddies for?"

Mike was so relieved that Cameron wasn't angry with him, even though he had every right to be.

"You want to come inside and spend Christmas with us? Unless you're too busy."

"I was kind of hoping you'd invite me in, why else would I be wearing this sweater?"

Cameron followed Mike inside, and he immediately went to see the twins, who were more comfortable with him than their own father. Mike didn't mind much, he knew he'd be able to win them over eventually.

"Uncle Cameron!" said Noel as she ran out of the kitchen. She ran over and hugged him.

"Hey Noel, it's so great to have you back. Did you get shorter?" he asked teasingly.

"I'm almost taller than you now." Her time hiding in the woods had left her almost as thin as Mike, but she had managed to grow a few inches in that time.

"Oh, like that's a challenge."

Zoey was taking dozens of pictures of everyone, but she had Cameron take just one. Mike and Zoey each held a twin on the couch, and Noel put her arms around their shoulders. They all smiled and Cameron snapped the picture.

"That one's going in my locket," said Zoey.

"I love our family," said Mike as he tickled Riley's foot and made him giggle.

The day before they had made Christmas cookies, and after breakfast Zoey, Mike, Cameron, and Noel decorated them. Or they tried to, at least. They ended up decorating each other with the icing, instead. It started when Noel wiped icing on Mike's nose, and Zoey joined in and smeared some on his forehead. He laughed and fought back and rubbed icing on them as they assaulted him with sugary goodness. It was all in self-defense.

"There's more icing on us then there is on the cookies," said Mike once they had calmed down. "There's less on Jack and Riley, and they're the messiest things I've ever seen."

Zoey grabbed him and kissed him, and she giggled as she licked the icing off his lips. "Delicious."

They cleaned up the mess and changed out of their pajamas. Mike and Zoey both dressed up nicely, and Noel put on a white dress. It was the only one that she and Zoey had made that still fit her, since she had outgrown all the others. It didn't conceal the scars on her arms and legs or her collarbone, though.

"Are you sure you don't want to wear something to cover up your scars?" asked Zoey as she braided her hair in front of the mirror. She was putting her curls in a waterfall braid.

"I wanted to at first, but I've been thinking about it, and I don't think I want to cover them anymore." Ever since Noel had returned, she only wore clothes that concealed her scars, and she avoided mirrors. "I've spent enough time hiding, I don't want to hide anymore."

"You're so brave and strong, Noel. I really admire you, you know?"

"Do you think they make me look ugly?" asked Noel.

"Scars are ugly things, but not when they're worn with pride. You're a survivor, and you're no less beautiful than you were before."

"But will they make Daddy feel bad?"

"They might, but he'll respect your decision. He admires your courage too, and we're both so proud of you."

Once her hair was done, Noel went downstairs and twirled in her dress for Mike. He winced at her scars, but then he smiled. "You just get more and more beautiful every day. You really do look like a winter princess."

They were expecting Mike's parents later, and while they waited they watched _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_, Mike and Noel's favorite Christmas special. Noel sat in Zoey's lap and Jack and Riley sat in Mike's. Mike and Zoey held hands and snuck in a kiss every now and again.

After the special ended, Jack and Holly came over for Christmas dinner. Zoey's did as well, but only long enough to kiss their daughter on the cheek and give the children their gifts. They were still uneasy around Mike.

As Holly hugged Zoey, she whispered in her ear, "Thank you for not abandoning him, or sending him away."

"I could never abandon him."

"He already looks so much healthier. I mean, he's still all skin and bone, but he doesn't look like a skeleton anymore. The shadows under his eyes are almost completely gone too, and there's light in them again."

Zoey had cut his hair so it was no longer framing his face, but she left enough so that it would spike the way she liked. He was also clean-shaven, he almost looked just like his old self again.

"You don't know how precious you are to me and Jack. You can get him back in control of his mind better than we ever could, and you make him so happy. Anyone else would have left, but you stayed right there with him all the way through. You have a heart of gold."

"I don't know about that, but thank you."

Noel hugged her grandparents and showed them her presents.

"Wow! A chameleon?" said Jack. "All I got was a lousy new laptop. You really scored this year, pookie."

"I think I'll call her Sapphire, because the first color she changed to was purple."

Zoey prepared a turkey, and Jack brought over the side dishes. He had always been the cook at their house, cooking was his passion.

The table was too small for so many people, but they managed to squeeze in enough chairs for everyone. Mike sat between his mother and Noel, but he sat across from Zoey. Before they ate, Cameron stood up and said, "I just want to say how happy I am to have you all as my friends. You never know what you have until it's gone, and we almost lost Mike and Noel for good. I propose a toast to them, because they stood up to Mal and triumphed, and now we have them back."

"Here, here!" said the others as they raised their glasses. Mike and Noel smiled and blushed.

Food was passed around the table until everyone's plates were filled. The food was all cooked just right, nothing was over or underdone.

"Mike, you need to eat more. I've seen thicker pencils," said Holly.

"Mom, I've already cleaned one plate, if I eat much more I'm going to pop."

Holly laughed and kissed his cheek.

Baby Jack threw his bottle at Jack Sr.'s head from his highchair. He giggled when he hit his target.

"Sorry, Jack!" said Zoey. "He can't even crawl yet and he still finds ways of getting into trouble."

"He's just trying to get rid of the competition, there can be only one Jack in the family," replied Jack Sr.

"Hey Daddy, do you think we could ride our bikes tomorrow?" Noel whispered in Mike's ear. "I want to try out my new one."

"Only if you think you can keep up," Mike replied.

"In your dreams," Noel replied. "And will you dance with me tonight? Just to try out my new radio, of course. I might even let you dance with Mom, but I don't know if I'm up to sharing."

Mike grinned from ear to ear. "How could I say no to that?"

"Zoey, did I ever tell you about the year Manitoba brought in a bear for Christmas? Mike was just fourteen at the time," said Jack.

"I don't think I've heard that one," replied Zoey.

"You think rattlesnakes are bad, try waking up on Christmas morning and finding a ten foot bear sitting in the living room!"

"Jack, it was just a baby, don't exaggerate," said Holly as she playfully swatted him.

"Okay, maybe it was just a cub, but there was still a bear in my house! And if there's a cub around, you know mama bear isn't too far away. Mike was back in control by then but it wasn't hard to figure out which personality was responsible. Mike, did Manitoba ever give you an explanation for that?"

"He just likes bears and he thought it would be a great gift, that's all he had to say," said Mike with a broad smile. "Bears and anything else that can eat him."

"Couldn't have put it better myself. Luckily, he hadn't eaten any of the presents or the food, but he was about to. I carried him outside and called the forest service."

"Manitoba was really offended and upset that you would give his gift away like that after all the work he put into catching it and bringing it home."

"I guess I would be too, he probably had to wrestle the mother. Anyway, after I called the forest service, Holly said we should keep him."

"That was a joke, and Tony was a sweetheart anyway. He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Tony?" said Cameron.

"That's what we named him," said Mike.

"We named him after Iron Man," said Jack.

"No we didn't," said Holly.

"Iron Man's name is Tony Stark, we named the cub after him."

"We didn't name him after a superhero."

"Come on Mike, back me up here. Tell your mother we named the bear after Tony Stark."

"Sorry Dad, but we really didn't," said Mike. "I never even made that connection."

"You too? I'm really the only one who thought he was named after Tony Stark?"

"I don't know where you got that idea honey, but that bear was not named after an Avenger."

"Then why in the world did we name him Tony?" asked Jack.

"He just looked like a Tony," said Mike with a shrug.

"My whole life has been a lie," said Jack as he shook his head. "Next you'll be telling me that the stray cat that comes to our house every once in a while isn't named after Zelda from the video game."

"Nope, sorry Dad."

"Are you serious?"

"When she meows it sounds like she's saying Zelda," said Holly.

"I cannot believe I am related to you people," said Jack. "Well, at least I know Jackie here is named after me. Good lord, you people are going to put me in the nuthouse."

"It's okay honey, we love you anyway," said Holly as she patted his shoulder.

"Now I really want to meet Tony," said Noel.

"We had him taken back to the forest by a park ranger, just go on a hike and look for a bear who looks like a Tony, you can't miss him," said Jack.

"Hey Dad, tell some more," said Mike. "Tell us about when Svetlana did her gymnastics routine on the roller coaster at the amusement park."

"Oh boy, you want to talk about giving an old man a heart attack…"

Jack told several more stories about things Mike's alters had done when he was younger that were bad when they happened but made for amusing stories now. Mike laughed right along with everyone else at each one, his alters had done some pretty ridiculous stuff in the past. He wasn't embarrassed by his past anymore, now that he was surrounded by people who didn't care about the weird stuff his alters did and loved him for who he was.

Between the jokes and the laughter and the chatter, it was hard to understand what anyone was really saying. But after being alone for so long, Mike loved every moment of it. He wished it could always be like this, fun and happy and carefree with friends and family. He still had a long road ahead of him, but for now, he was able to forget last year and pretend it had never happened.

The other personalities wanted to come out, but they contained themselves and let Mike have the rest of the day to himself. There was no trace of Mal in his mind, but he was always wary, always ready in case he did come back someday.

For now though, the wolf was nowhere to be found. Little Red and the Huntsman had finally found the light after being alone in the dark for so long, and they would never let anyone take that from them ever again. They had found peace and happiness once more.

_The End_

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__ The last chapter raised some questions about Mal, and I'll be answering them in my next fic, Before and After. It goes into Mike's past, before he was adopted when he was living with his biological parents, and after he was adopted by Jack and Holly. Thanks for all the reviews, you guys are the best :)_


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